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LIFE AND WRITINGS 



OF 



GEORGE EDWARD FLOWER 



EDITED BY 

ISAAC ERRETT 



CINCINNATI 
STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY 




3/13 43 



Copyright, 1885, by 
Isaac Errett. 



PREFACE. 



PREFACE. 



The Biographical and Historical Lectures which 
form the larger portion of this book were originally 
delivered from the pulpit, with a view to cultivate in 
the hearers, and especially in the young, a taste for 
reading and study. The interest they awakened, and 
their influence in leading many to the formation of 
studious habits, led to their publication in the Chris- 
tian Standard, the readers of which manifested a 
lively and constantly growing interest in the series. It 
was the intention of the author, in the light of this 
general and hearty approval, to add three lectures — 
one on Whitefield, one on the Wesleys, and one on 
Alexander Campbell, and then publish the completed 
series in a book; but death came before this purpose 
was accomplished. In response to a widely-expressed 
wish, it has been decided by those most directly con- 
cerned in honoring his memory and perpetuating his 
usefulness, to fulfill his purpose of publishing these Lec- 
tures, even though the series is incomplete, and to ac- 
company them with a brief sketch of the life and char- 
acter of their author. Being honored by his family with 
the task of preparing this biography, and editing these 
writings, I accepted it as a labor of love due to the 
memory of one to whom I stood for many years in 



4 PREFACE. 

relations of intimate personal friendship, and whose 
character and work I , greatly admired. I have dis- 
charged my trust as best I could — the thoughts and 
sentiments of my heart always so far exceeding the 
skill of my pen, that with great diffidence I submit my 
imperfect work to the scrutiny of the public. It has, 
however, the merit of sincerity and of faithful en- 
deavor. The simplicity of taste and the severe truth- 
fulness that belonged to the character we have attempted 
to draw, forbade all labored eulogy, and all exaggera- 
tion, even had I been prompted to these by the 
warmth of my friendship or the fervor of my admira- 
tion. The value of a biography is in its entire truth- 
fulness. Without this, its lessons will be valueless, 
and may be mischievous. We have sought to make 
this sketch as true to life as possible, in color as well as 
in outline. If there are no serious blemishes or de- 
formities in the picture, it is because they were not dis- 
coverable in the original. We are not without hope 
that, because of its naturalness, it will speak with 
power to many hearts, and lend inspiration to many 
lives. With this in view, we send it forth on its 
mission. 

Our author left enough miscellaneous essays and 
addresses to make another volume. Of these we have 
only space in this volume to furnish two specimens — 
enough to give an idea of his style, spirit and aim 
in his numerous writings. 



PREFACE. 5 

We are Indebted for numerous and valuable memo- 
rabilia to Mrs. Olive Flower, now of Evansville, Ind., 
Alfred Flower, of Paris, 111., and James A. Huston, of 
Paducah, Ky. To Mrs. Flower we are under obliga- 
tions for the manuscripts and journals of her lamented 
husband, as well as for much other valuable informa- 
tion ; to Alfred Flower for the journal of George 
Flower's travels, the valuable History of the English 
Settlement at Albion, 111., and many interesting 
items of family history; to James A. Huston for a 
knowledge of many interesting particulars concern- 
ing the work of George E. Flower in Paducah, Ky. 
The names of others who have furnished us with in- 
formation will appear in their proper places. 

Isaac Errett. 

Cincinnati, Dec. 25, 1884. 



GENERAL CONTENTS. 



GENERAL CONTENTS. 

LIFE. 
Chapter. Page. 

I. Ancestry of George E. Flower .... 9-23 

II. Childhood and Youth 24-34 

III. College Life 35-44 

IV. The Young Evangelist 45-58 

V. The Pastor 59-76 

VI. Last Days 77-87 

VIL Conclusion 88-101 

WRITINGS. 
Lecture. 

I. John WyclifFe 105-118 

II. Gutenberg and the Printing-Press . , . 1 19-126 

III. Savonarola, or the Dawn of the Reformation . . 127-134 

IV. Savonarola 135-143 

V. Life and Times of Martin Luther .... 144-151 

VI. Life and Times of Martin Luther . . . 152-157 

VIL Life and Times of Martin Luther .... 1 58-163 

VIII. Life and Times of Martin Luther . . . 164-171 

IX. John Calvin 172-179 

X. John Calvin 180-187 

XL William of Orange 188-195 

XII. William of Orange 196-203 

XIII. William of Orange 204-210 

XIV. William of Orange 211-216 

XV. William of Orange 217-223 

XVI. The Huguenots . . . , . . . 224-231 

XVII. The Huguenots 232-239 

XVIII. The Thirty Years' War 240-246 



8 



GENERAL CONTENTS. 



Lecture. 

XIX. The Thirty Years' War 
XX. John Knox and the Puritans 
XXI. Life and Times of Cromwell 
XXII. Life and Times of Cromwell 

XXIII. Life and Times of Cromwell 

XXIV. Life and Character of Milton 
XXV. John Bunyan 

What the Bible has done for Children 

Some things about Lying 

Index 



Page. 
247-256 
257-267 
268-275 
276-284 
285-293 
294-302 
303-314 
315-328 
329-334 
335-338 



LIFE OF GEORGE EDWARD FLOWER. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCESTRY. 

Importance of the question of Ancestry — Law of heredity — Birth of 
George Edward Flower — His father, Alfred Flower — His mother, 
Elizabeth Flower — The Oranges and Luntleys — The home of the 
Flowers — -George Flower, his Life and Character — Richard 
Flower — Edward Fordham Flower — Benjamin Flower — William 
Flower, the Martyr — ^The Fordhams. 

We do not know that George E. Flower had any 
pride of ancestry. If he had, it was never manifested, 
either in his bearing or in his conversation. Although 
he might have said, with some justice, to those who 
indulge in that kind of boasting, **If any other man 
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the 
flesh, I more," we are not aware that he ever showed 
even a gleam of consciousness that he was ** propped 
by ancestry " of more than ordinary merit and distinc- 
tion. Had he been interrogated at this point, he 
would, we judge, with Tennyson, have ** smiled at the 
claims of long descent," and said: 

Howe'er it be, it seems to me 

'T is only noble to be good. 
Kind hearts are more than coronets. 

And simple faith than Norman blood. 

It was N. P. Willis, we believe, who compared 
those whose chief distinction is found in their illus- 



lO LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

trious descent, to the images of stars in the waters — 
* * deriving all their glory from their bright originals in 
heaven." "Do you know, sir," said a vain and blus- 
tering mediocre lawyer to a sensible and shrewd old 
gentleman, "Do you know, sir, that I am a direct 
descendant from Miles Standish?" " Is it possible?" 
replied the old gentleman. " What a descent!'' 

Yet the question of ancestry is not unimportant. 
Though, in some of its phases, its value has been ab- 
surdly exaggerated, and ridiculous as well as unrighteous 
assumptions of special privileges and honors have been 
based thereon, the common sense of mankind has yet 
shrewdly recognized a knowledge of one's ancestry as 
an essential factor in working out the problem of his 
character. The researches of modern science support 
and enforce this judgment. There is a biological law of 
heredity, "by which all beings endowed with life tend 
to repeat themselves in their descendants." Whatever 
may be the antiquity of the human race, it is clear that 
much of the " old Adam" is seen to-day in all his chil- 
dren, and no regenerating power has yet been sufficient 
to stamp it out. 

Character is, in part, a heritage. It falls not within 
our sphere to discuss this question in its scientific or 
theological bearings, but simply to note the fact of 
heredity as necessarily entering into a just and enlight- 
ened estimate of any human character.^ While it is 
true that the apostle Paul's boast that he was "of the 
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of 
the Hebrews," was surrendered as worthless, so far as 

* Those who are interested in this question, and yet have but limited means of 
investigation, will find a valuable, though brief, discussion of it in B. A. Hinsdale's 
" Schools and Studies," in the first Study, entitled " The Origin of Character." 
James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1884. 



ANCESTRY. 1 1 

it had been supposed to warrant any ground of boastings 
or any basis of acceptance in the sight of God, it still 
remains true that Paul's character can be profitably 
studied only in the light of his ancestry, and that, when 
occasion served, he was not slow to affirm that he was 
not only a Pharisee, but **the son of a Pharisee " (Acts 
xxiii. 6). When the doctrine of heredity is pushed so far 
as to make it all-controlling in the formation of character, 
and man is but the inheritor of virtuous or vicious ten- 
dencies over which he has no power, it becomes a mis- 
chievous falsehood. On the other hand, when we 
ignore all pre-natal influences, and entirely exclude the 
operation of the law of heredity, we put it out of our 
power to understand ourselves, or to form a true esti- 
mate of our fellows. In either case we take but a par- 
tial view of the forces that play upon the life ; our 
premises are too narrow, and our conclusions must be 
false. We deem it proper, therefore, in attempting to 
furnish the materials for a just estimate of a life and 
character in some respects quite remarkable, to pay 
suitable attention to this question of ancestry. 

George Edward Flower was born near Albion, 
Edwards county, Illinois, October i6, 1847. ^^ was 
the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Flower — the first of 
six children, namely: George E., Richard C., William 
F., Alfred H., Benjamin, and Elizabeth. This family 
circle has been broken for the first time in the death of 
George. 

His father, Alfred Flower, the eldest son of George 
and Eliza Julia Flower, was born near Albion, 111., 
July 8, 1822, and grew up amid the rugged experiences 
of western pioneer life, inured to toil, fond of sports, 
especially of hunting, and trained to the self-reliance 



12 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

and energy without which that frontier Hfe could not 
have prospered. In his seventeenth year — ^June, 1839 
— he devoted his Hfe to Christ, and became a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church in Albion. Seven years 
later — August, 1846 — we find him entering the Chris- 
tian ministry. On the 31st of October, 1846, he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Orange, the eldest daughter of 
Daniel and Elizabeth Orange, also a native of Edwards 
county. For twenty-four years we find him combining 
the callings of farmer and preacher — the preachers in a 
new country having to depend largely on themselves 
for support. This called not only for constant activity, 
physical and mental, but for rigid economy and much 
self-denial. Only where the religious sentiment Avas in 
supreme control could such a double life of toil and 
care be cheerfully accepted alike by husband and wife. 
His life has been one of temperance, frugality, physical 
and mental activity, and spiritual devotion. He has 
ever been held in high esteem as exemplifying in his 
life the virtues and graces, domestic, social and civic, of 
the religion he teaches. His ministerial labors have 
been not only acceptable, but largely fruitful, alike 
in conversions and in the education of Christians in the 
lessons of righteousness and holiness. He is still active 
and energetic. He now resides in Paris, Illinois, and 
ministers acceptably to the Christian Church in that city. 
Daniel and Elizabeth Orange, the parents of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Flower, mother of George E., were among 
the early emigrants from England to the English Set- 
tlement in Edwards county. 111., in 18 18. They, with 
their eldest son and daughter, under the ministry of 
Elder Elijah Goodwin, were the founders of the 
Church of Christ in Albion, in the summer of 1842. 



ANCESTRY. 1 3 

We have but limited information of their family lineage 
and history. Daniel Orange was descended from a 
Huguenot family. His grandmother, when about 
twelve years of age, was taken away secretly from 
France to England by her mother, to prevent her 
being sent to a nunnery for life — which was one of the 
devices of Roman Catholic persecutors to effect the 
annihilation of the Huguenots. Mrs. Elizabeth Orange 
was a Luntley, and the Luntleys, for several genera- 
tions, had been devout Baptists. She and her husband 
were, however, never identified with the Baptists. 
They joined the Christian Church in Cincinnati, under 
the preaching of Alexander Campbell, at the time of 
the Campbell and Purcell debate, in 1837, and were 
immersed by Elder D. S. Burnet. But the strong faith 
that dwelt in her ancestors dwelt also in Mrs. Flower. 
She yet lives, and the time has not yet come to say all 
that may be justly said of her lovely character. For 
our present purpose it will suffice to say that, according 
to the standards of female education then prevailing, 
she was liberally educated, and this education has been 
steadily supplemented by reading and study. A mind 
of superior natural endowments has been diligently 
cultivated; a heart naturally warm and generous has 
been, from girlhood, swayed by a faith of unusual 
strength and steadfastness ; a life so surrounded as to 
encourage and almost compel the development of cour- 
age, patience and self denial, has been disciplined into 
gentleness, perseverance, and an implicit trust in God : 
the result is a character of rare strength and beauty. 
Without cant or affectation, her life Is intensely reli- 
gious. Her character In her own home combines 
motherly tenderness with gentle dignity. Her Intel- 



14 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

llgence, her affection, her self-control, her practical 
wisdom, and, above all, her ever-peaceful trust in God, 
have given her a peculiar sovereignty over her children, 
by whom she has always been greatly reverenced and 
beloved, and by none of them more devotedly than by 
her eldest born, George, the subject of this sketch. 

We must add here, that while the home of the 
farmer-preacher, Alfred Flower, was, like most western 
pioneer homes, the abode of honest poverty, void of 
many of the ornaments and luxuries that adorn and 
enrich even the ordinary farm-house of to-day, it was, 
in one important particular, an exception among the 
western homes of that period. Richard Flower, the 
grandfather of Alfred — an anti-trinitarian, and for many 
years an intimate associate of Dr. Priestley, but a 
broad-minded, warm-hearted, pious man — when he 
came to this country from England, brought with him 
Avhat was at that time a very large and costly library, 
largely historical, biographical and theological. It was 
large in its scope, for its owner, though rather unortho- 
dox in faith, had a general intercourse with the various 
orthodox denominations ; his home was open to minis- 
ters of all persuasions, and his reading spread over the 
entire field of theological literature. His library was as 
wide in its range as that of his own free spirit of 
inquiry. The principal share of the biographical, his- 
torical and theological books passed into the hands of 
Alfred Flower on the occasion of his marriage — so that 
his otherwise humble home was enriched with rare 
intellectual treasures, to which his children had access 
from their earliest years. 

To go farther back, w^e find some remarkably strong 
characters among the Flowers. George Flower, the 



ANCESTRY. 1 5 

grandfather of George E., and Richard Flower, his 
great-grandfather, were EngHsh gentlemen of wealth 
and culture, who, in consequence of political troubles 
in their own country, and their strong republican ten- 
dencies, were induced to leave their fine estate in Hert- 
fordshire, England, and emigrate to Southern Illinois 
in i8i8 and 1819 — George going two years in advance 
to prepare the way for an English Settlement. We have 
now lying before us a volume of manuscript, containing 
George Flower's diary or journal of travel, from the time 
he left Liverpool, June 11, 1816, until he reached Vir- 
ginia in December of that year. Landing at New York, 
he passed on to Philadelphia, and thence, on horse- 
back, to Pittsburgh ; from Pittsburgh, across Ohio, to 
Cincinnati ; thence through Kentucky to Nashville, 
Tenn. ; and through Tennessee to Virginia, where he 
made his home for some time with Mr. Jefferson, at 
Monticello. His intention was to settle in Virginia, 
but his abhorrence of slavery overruled this purpose. 
His journal reveals a man of strong affections, suffering 
keenly at the thought of breaking the ties that bound 
him to his native land, yet ruled by a high purpose to 
confer a lasting benefit on multitudes by opening homes 
for them in a new country. His notes of travel are 
brief, but exhibit keen business insight, quick and 
accurate observation of men and things, great power of 
endurance, and a lively interest in the growth of society 
under a republican government. There is not the 
slightest trace of egotism, and there seems to be a 
careful avoidance of any expression of sentiment on 
religious questions. 

In 1882, the Chicago Historical Society printed an 
octavo volume of 402 pages, written by George Flower, 



1 6 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

entitled **A History of the English Settlement in 
Edwards county, Illinois, founded in 1817 and 18 18 by 
Morris Birkbeck and George Flower," which contains 
an abridgment of the written journal already referred to, 
and continues the history of the founding and growth 
of the English Settlement to i860. From the Preface 
to that deeply interesting volume, we extract the 
following tribute to the character of the author, written 
by Dr. Barry, then librarian of the Chicago Historical 
Society, and published in the Chicago ** Tribune" of 
March 22, 1862: 

A great and good man has recently passed from us. English by 
birth, American by choice, for near half a century he has lived among 
us — so long that the tide of events and the rush of adventurers had 
buried from general notice the silver-haired veteran who once was 
known, esteemed and loved in both hemispheres — the honored founder 
of a prosperous colony, the enterprising agriculturist, the philan- 
thropist of large and noble aims, the strong, true-hearted and upright 
man. 

Born in Hertfordshire, England, in affluent circumstances, after 
gaining some distinction in his native land by continental travel for the 
benefit of British husbandry, he came to America in 1816 (about thirty 
years of age) as the associate of Morris Birkbeck in founding the 
English Colony at Albion, Edwards county, in Illinois. 

It was no mere sordid impulse that moved either of these noble- 
hearted men' in their scheme of colonization. Republicans from deep- 
seated sentiment and conviction, the Great American Republic drew 
them hither as to a congenial home; and here they jointly established 
a thrifty and successful colony, transplanting on our virgin prairies the 
arts and improvements of the old mother-country. The large wealth 
possessed by Mr. Flower gave him a commanding, a responsible, and, 
we may add, a laborious position in the new colony. His spacious 
mansion, of rare extent and furnish in a new settlement, was the scene 
of frank and elegant hospitality. Strangers of distinction sought it 
from afar. Improved husbandry, with the importation of the finest 
fleeces of England and Spain, followed the guiding hand of the 
master-mind. When the history of the Albion Colony is written, it 
will form the truest and best eulogium of its founders. 



ANCESTRY. 1/ 

The calm and philosophic wisdom of Mr. Flower, united with a 
rare benevolence, has left bright traces upon our Western history. In 
the eventful strife which accompanied the daring attempt in 1823 to 
legalize African slavery in Illinois, no one enlisted with a truer heroism 
than he. We of the present day, and amidst the dire commotions of 
civil war, can but poorly comprehend the ferocity and the gloomy 
portents of that struggle. So nearly balanced were the contending 
parties of the State, that the vote of the English Colony, ever true to 
the instincts of freedom, turned the scale — a handful of sturdy Britons 
being the forlorn hope to stay the triumph of wrong and oppression, 
whose success might have sealed forever the doom of republican and 
constitutional liberty in America. 

The failure of that nefarious plot against our young and noble 
State, led to an outburst of persecution and wrong against free negroes 
and their humane protectors, transcending even the insidious hostility 
of our so-called Black Laws, and Constitutional Conventions. This 
wanton and vindictive display of inhumanity it was, which gave birth 
to Mr. Flower's plan for the colonization of free negroes in Hayti, in 
which he had the confidence and cooperation of President Boyer, and 
which attracted an approving notice throughout the Free-states of the 
North. Although but partially successful, its necessity being from the 
pressure of subsequent events less urgent, its conception and manage- 
ment reflect the highest honor upon its author, whose name will merit 
a place among the benefactors of mankind. 

Mr. Flower was one of that class of men whose fine insight, large 
views, and calm force, raised him above all claimants to popular favor. 
In his early maturity he numbered among his friends and' correspond- 
ents such personages as our American Jefferson, Lafayette and the 
Comte de Lasteyrie of France, Madame O'Connor (the daughter of 
Condorcet) of Ireland, and Cobbett of England. By these, and such 
as these, his superior tone of mind and character was held in true 
esteem. In the depths of our yet unfurrowed prairies, and amidst the 
struggle and hardship of a new settlement, a mind and heart like his 
might fail of a just appreciation by his contemporaries. This sad 
realization he doubtless felt. But now that he has passed from the 
scenes of his voluntary exile, let it not be said that a true and gifted 
manhood was here, and we knew it not. There are those, now and to 
come, who will keep green his memory, and take pleasure in recovering 
the traces of a noble mind, that lived, thought and acted only for 
human good. 



1 8 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

It needs to be added that George Flower's wealth 
was exhausted in his heroic efforts to build up this 
English Settlement, and his last years were spent in 
poverty. The following paragraph, from his own pen, 
closes his book of History : 

The last three years of George Flower's life in Illinois were marked 
by pecuniary difficulties and disasters. His home, flock and farm, sold 
at a low price, passed to the hands of a stranger. In the year 1849, 
himself and wife, his two youngest sons and youngest daughter, left 
Illinois, never more to return as residents. They crossed the Great 
Wabash with household furniture and some family plate, with two 
dollars and fifty cents in cash, to begin the world anew in the pleasant 
town of New Harmony, Ind. In i860 he is residing in the town of 
Mt. Vernon, on the banks of the Ohio, seventy-four years of age, 
possessed of a sound constitution, and in the enjoyment of good health. 
From deafness, much increased within the last ten years, deprived 
thereby of the solace of conversation, he has to draw more largely 
from the resources of book, pen and pencil. In poverty, but not in 
destitution, happy in his children, and blest in the companionship of 
the dear partner of his life, who has shared with him the toils, 
anxieties, and happy days of the past, they both enliven the last stage 
of life's journey by cheerful reminiscences of the past and enjoypient 
of the present. Accepting the prerogative accorded to age, of extract- 
ing happiness from a multitude of minor sources unheeded by youth 
and overlooked by middle age, they probably gather more flowers in 
the evening of life than they did in the noonday of existence. Resting 
on the shady side of the road, spectators of scenes in which they 
once took a part, they watch the pilgrims toiling in the path they once 
so zealously trod, sometimes a little weary of their journey, ready to 
lie down to sleep.* 

In January, 1862, Mr. and Mrs. Flower, while 
visiting at Grayville, 111., were both taken sick on the 
same day. They had often expressed the wish that 
they might pass away together. Mrs. Flower died at 
dawn, January 1 5 ; Mr. Flower in the evening twilight 



* Hist. Eng. Settlement, pp. 359-60. 



ANCESTRY. 1 9 

of the same day. They sleep in one grave at Gray- 
ville. 

Richard Flower, the father of George, and the 
great-grandfather of George E., we have already men- 
tioned as coming to this country, bringing with him a 
large and costly library. It will give an idea of his 
wealth when we state that he sold his dwelling and 
lands in Harden, near Hertford, for ^23,000, or i^iiS,- 
000. Though called a Unitarian, and enjoying intimate 
relations with the celebrated Dr. Priestley, he was rather 
an Arian, and accepted Unitarian theology only as less 
difficult than the Trinitarian. He was never fully satis- 
fied concerning the Divinity of Christ. But he was a 
deeply pious man, and in England had extensive inter- 
course with ministers and public men of various persua- 
sions. He sacrificed much in the struggle to abolish the 
slave-trade, and slavery in the West Indies. At the En- 
glish Settlement he was one of the most prominent of 
several persons in conducting public religious services ; 
and when he became too infirm to travel from his resi- 
dence to the town, he held public religious meetings in 
his library every Lord's day, for his family, relatives and 
near neighbors. He took an active part in opposition 
to the introduction of slavery into Illinois, and was 
widely known for his princely hospitality. No better 
comm^tary on his reputation for wisdom and integrity 
is needed than the bare statement of the fact that when 
George Rapp, the head of the New Harmony settle- 
ment of German Lutherans from the kingdom of 
Wiirtemberg, thought of selling out the concern, he 
sought the counsel of Richard Flower, and finally 
commissioned him to go to Europe to offer the entire 
New Harmony property for sale. Mr. Flower accepted 



20 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

the commission, returned to England, and effected a 
sale of the property to the celebrated Robert Owen, 
who, in 1824, purchased the Rapp village and twenty 
thousand acres of land for 1^150,000, and established 
the colony of New Harmony, which became so famous 
as furnishing a practical test of Mr. Owen's godless 
social philosophy — the utter failure of which completely 
squelched this pretentious infidel theory of human 
nature and human society. 

Edward Fordham Flower, brother of George, also 
came, when a lad, to this country, but returned to 
England in 1824, to be educated. He settled in 
England, and rose to wealth and honor. M. D. Con- 
way, in a letter to the Cincinnati *' Commercial 
Gazette," dated March 29, 1883, says: 

He was a good speaker, full of shrewd sense, humor and tact. 
He was an excellent Magistrate in Warwickshire, five times Mayor of 
Stratford-on-Avon, and, if he had not been digusted at the amount of 
dirt candidates had to eat, would have sat in Parliament. ... In 
the many years of his mayoralty at Stratford-on-Avon, Mr. Flower and 
his wife entertained the most eminent Americans, and with some of 
them — Emerson, J. T. Fields, and others — formed intimate friendships 
for life. ... If the visitor to that town now finds the relics of 
Shakespeare preserved, his house in perfect order, a public-spirited 
interest in the associations of the place prevailing, a Shakesperian 
library and museum, he need only inquire into the facts to learn that 
these things are due originally to the generosity and energy of Edward 
Fordham Flower and his family. 

One of the special phases of this gentleman's 
benevolence and public spirit, was seen in his earnest, 
persistent and largely successful efforts to do away with 
the bearing-rein by which horses were so cruelly 
tortured. At first these efforts were met only with 
ridicule and insult ; but he persisted until he revolu- 



ANCESTRY. 21 

tlonized public sentiment and concentrated a powerful 
opposition to this form of cruelty. We have now 
before us a pamphlet of fifty-five pages, written by him 
on this subject, abounding in facts, arguments, instruc- 
tion as to the proper harnessing and managing of 
horses, and graphic pictorial illustrations of the cruel 
and needless suffering inflicted on this noble animal by 
the bearing-rein. The public spirit, the benevolence 
and generosity, the scorn of a false public sentiment, 
the fearless and persevering advocacy of unpopular 
truth, and the intellectual and moral force, which we 
have found in his brother George, were equally manifest 
in Edward, though developed in other fields, and under 
widely different circumstances. 

Of Benjamin Flower, the uncle of George and 
Edward, Mr. Conway says, in the same communica- 
tion : 

The family stock that remained in England showed that all its 
vigor was not transplanted. In England, old Benjamin Flower was a 
resolute radical in both politics and religion. He was editor of the 
*' Cambridge Independent," a paper which almost alone ventured to pub- 
lish in full the persecutions and trials of Hone, Home Tooke, Richard 
Carlile, James Watson ; insomuch that the files of that paper are now 
of historic importance. His daughters, Sarah and Eliza, were nearly 
the first ladies of culture and refinement who devoted themselves to 
advanced ideas ; Sarah (who married Mr. Adams) wrote some beautiful 
hymns, among others, "Nearer, my God, to Thee;" and Eliza set 
them to music. They were left wards of the celebrated orator, William 
Johnson Fox, M. P., who was the Theodore Parker of London, and 
Eliza was the organist in South Place Chapel, for which that famous 
hymn, and others now widely used, were written. 

Finally, to complete our view of the Flower 
ancestry, we quote George Flower's own statement : 

Our ancestors were men of strong and impulsive feeling. One of 
them, William Flower, is recorded in print and picture in " Foxe's 



22 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

Book of Martyrs," folio edition. He is there represented tied to the 
stake ; the fagots piled around him ; refusing to recant ; but offering 
his hand, which the executioner has lopped off, and is holding on a 
pike, as an atonement for an act which he acknowledged to be wrong — 
striking a priest with a wood-knife whilst officiating at the altar. My 
mother lived some years after my father, at Park House. She was the 
daughter of Edward Fordham of Kelshall, a village on the borders of 
Hertfordshire, near the town of Royston. Clustering around the 
bleak hills of that district, in the villages of Sandon, Kelshall and 
Therfield, the family of Fordhams have long resided. In the wars of 
the Protectorate, they were as numerous as they are now. With a 
company of some seventy or eighty men, all blood relations, and of 
one name, they joined Cromwell's army. Ordered to ford a river, 
there stationed to check the advance of the royal troops, they were all 
killed but one man, and he left on the field badly wounded. From 
this one man, the seventy-three uncles and cousins — all Fordhams — 
that made me a farewell visit at my house at Marden before I sailed 
for America, all sprang.* 

It will be seen that, for many generations, the 
Flowers were marked by Anglo-Saxon firmness, pluck 
and perseverance ; that they were mostly of a radical 
and progressive type in politics and religion, ready to 
become reformers, revolutionists or martyrs ; that they 
were public-spirited, benevolent, enterprising, philan- 
thropic; often quick-tempered and impulsive, but 
always conspicuous for mental and moral force. To all 
the solid qualities of the Flower stock were added, in 
George E. Flower's heritage, the vivacity and religious 
fervor of French Huguenot stock derived through the 
Oranges, and the steady faith and sturdy independence 
and uncompromising devotion to principle, of the 
Baptist Luntleys. So far as heredity contributes to the 
formation of character, we can see the possibility and 
probability of a happy combination of intellectual, 
moral and spiritual qualities and tendencies in the 

" Hist. English Settlement, pp. 315-16. 



ANCESTRY 2$ 

heritage of George E. Flower. We have been at pains 
to gather these facts, not as furnishing any ground of 
boasting, but as throwing Hght on the character we are 
about to sketch. 



24 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 



CHAPTER 11. 

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 

Peculiar advantages of his child-life — Home education — His baptism — 
Participation in the exercises of the prayer-meetings — Goes to the 
University at Indianapolis — Home-sickness. 

The child-life of George E. Flower was, in most 
respects, that of the average child of the western 
prairies in pioneer times. What was peculiar in his 
case may be summed up in three particulars: 

I. His heritage. — Not that in respect of material 
wealth, he had any special advantage. Although his 
grandfather and great-grandfather were gentlemen of 
wealth, it was largely spent in promoting the welfare of 
the English Settlement at Albion, in the exercise of a 
princely hospitality, and in benevolent and patriotic 
outlays for the political, agricultural and social welfare 
of the young State of Illinois. Thus the large fortune 
which George Flower brought with him to the prairies 
was dissipated during the long years in which he sacri- 
ficed his private interests to those of the Settlement. As 
a correspondent of the Chicago "Tribune" sums it 
up: ''Hundreds of dollars were spent for postage on 
letters at twelve to twenty-five cents each, replying to 
inquiries for the benefit of others about the chances in 
the new country. Subscriptions to schools, libraries, 
and other local institutions, absorbed large sums. For 
thirty years his spacious Park House was never without 
its visitors from every country in Europe and every 
State in the Union. They were made welcome if their 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 2$ 

stay was for a week, a month, or a year. The work 
that did so much for others brought ruin to him who led 
in it." Allred Flower, therefore, did not inherit wealth 
from his father, and George E. was the son of poor 
parents, dependent on their industry for a living. But 
when we speak of his heritage^ we refer to something of 
much higher value than lands or money. He inherited 
the superior treasures of intellectual and moral qualities 
— the mental keenness and energy, the sturdy inde- 
pendence, the unbending integrity, the philanthropic 
spirit, the deep religiousness, that belonged, as we 
have seen, to a refined Anglo-Saxon ancestry, increased 
in value by the infusion of French vivaciousness and 
the liberty-loving, heroic, martyr spirit that gives such 
luster to the name of Huguenot. If we may so ex- 
press It, the spiritual endowment — the intellectual and 
moral capital with which our hero set up the business of 
life — ^was superior to that of most of his contemporaries. 
2. The religious at^no sphere of his home. — Homes 
that were religious at all, at that time, were probably 
more devotional in spirit than are the Christian homes 
of to-day. Outside attractions were fewer. The pres- 
sure of business was comparatively light ; the demands 
of society were few ; the excitements of life were less 
feverish ; there was leisure for Bible reading and family 
worship ; the songs of Zion were a delightful home 
recreation ; and as religious meetings were one of the 
few attractions that relieved the monotony of every-day 
life, and religious enthusiasm was one of the very few 
diversions from the hum-drum toils of the farm, the 
religious home was quick to catch the religious fervor of 
revival-meetings, and repeat the new songs and inspir- 
ing prayers snatched from the pioneer preacher's lips. 



26 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

Alas, that the insane greed of wealth, the intrusions of 
fashionable follies and vices, and the multiform extrav- 
agances of dress and equipage, of luxury and pride, 
should have smothered the spirit of devotion and 
hushed the voice of prayer and praise in so many of 
our professedly Christian homes ! 

But the home into which George E. was born 
was religious beyond most of the religious homes of 
that time. His father was a preacher as well as a 
farmer. His thoughts, his readings, his studies, his 
conversations, were religious. Religion was, in a 
sense, the business of the family, and George was 
from infancy accustomed to breathe in a religious 
atmosphere. As his reason unfolded, and he began 
to form conceptions, from his surroundings, of the 
meaning of life, religion entered into these concep- 
tions as one of the most important factors in life's 
problem. He never had a thought of life separated 
from the sentiment of religion. Then his mother, to 
whom he was always supremely devoted, and who fur- 
nished to his child-heart its loftiest idea of goodness 
and loveliness, was preeminently religious. Her entire 
life was suffused with a sweet and gentle spirit of piety. 
Her faith in God, her love of the Bible, her steady joy 
in Christ her Saviour, threw their combined radiance 
over the every-day life of that humble but happy home. 
We have read of a picture of Holman Hunt's, called 
** Jesus the Carpenter," in which the young Nazarene is 
seen in the carpenter shop, with the tools and imple- 
ments of his trade lying about him. There is no light 
from without — yet the humble workshop is radiantly 
illuminated. A halo of glory encircles the head of the 
man of toil, and the rude walls, the carpenter's bench, 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 2/ 

the mechanic's tools, are all bathed in light, and the 
very shavings that curl on the earthern floor are aglow 
with a heaven-kindled splendor. The artist would thus 
teach that the glory of God rests on the scenes of honest 
and useful labor — that the presence of Christ lends dig- 
nity and beauty to the commonest employments of life. 
The lofty faith and serene piety of this lovely Christian 
woman invested her daily life with such a nimbus as 
glorified that humble home — so that, while there came 
no light from without to make it glitter with the attrac- 
tions of wealth, it was brighter than earth could make 
it with the light of heavenly truth and grace. It was at 
the knees of such a mother that George learned his first 
lessons of life. 

3. The library. — Beyond most poor boys, he was 
blessed with the means of literary as well as religious 
culture. His eyes were from the first familiar with 
books, and as soon as he could read he had access 
to the ample library of which we have already spoken. 
Thus from childhood he grew into a passionate fondness 
for the Bible, general history, and the memoirs of emi- 
nent men and women, and was possessed of a rich store 
of information in these departments of literature while 
yet a boy. It was not merely that he read these books. 
His mother was well read. Her children were accus- 
tomed to go to her for the solution of difficulties that 
arose in their courses of reading, or to ply her with 
questions suggested by their readings, but reaching out 
beyond their means of information. Such was her self- 
command that she would pause amidst the most press- 
ing domestic employments, however annoying or excit- 
ing the circumstances might be, to answer their ques- 
tions, to relieve them of mistaken impressions, and to 



28 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

Start them on a proper path of study. In such a home, 
with such means of information, and such a mother to 
guide him, we need not wonder that the foundations 
were laid broad and deep for that mastery of historical 
and biographical literature, and for that felicitous skill 
in Scripture exposition, which distinguished George's 
early manhood. 

Possessed of a delicate and sensitive physical frame — 
too frail to meet the demands of a spirit so strong and 
restlessly active — he never enjoyed robust health. Yet 
in his boyhood he was fond of childish pleasures and 
sports, and bore his part in them with moderate zest — 
always cheerful and active, never rude or quarrelsome. 
As his father followed the two-fold calling of farmer 
and preacher without intermission for twenty-four years 
in the neighborhood . of Albion, his family, like the 
families of all western preachers in that day, had to 
observe the strictest rules of economical living ; and to 
these early lessons of economy and self-denial George 
remained conscientiously faithful during life. He was 
early accustomed, notwithstanding his delicate health, 
to the variety of work incident to farm-life, and 
took a lively interest in it, though generally working 
much in excess of his physical resources. He took 
delight also in hunting — a trait inherited from his 
father and developed through his father's example ; for 
Alfred Flower, in addition to his reputation as a farmer 
and preacher, was known as something of a Nimrod — 
his early life as a shepherd-boy making him familiar 
with dog and gun in defending his flocks from attacks 
of wolves and other wild animals. He was also 
fond of pets — so much so that to give them up, even at 
the call of necessity, was a sore trial to his affectionate 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 29 

nature. From early childhood he had a sensitive con- 
science. Whether at work, at study, or at play, a keen 
sense of right and wrong was ever manifest. His life 
gravitated to a moral and religious center. As a child 
he was always cheerful, and often playful even to mer- 
riment, but never sought his own advantage at the 
expense of others, or indulged in any mischievous 
pranks to the injury of others. Ready to yield to the 
wishes of his associates, always studying their prefer- 
ences and respecting them, he could not be tempted a 
hair's breadth beyond the line of right. 

He was, moreover, singularly pure. His early life 
was carefully guarded from evil associations. So 
scrupulous were his parents at this point, that they 
would not allow him to attend a pubHc school at any 
time during his childhood. How far this is a correct 
method of child-training, may be an open question ; 
but we have here to do only with the fact. When he 
was twelve years old, and his brother Richard ten, they 
had one year's schooling at home, under the instruction 
of an English governess, Miss Lillie Luntley, now 
Mrs. Joshua Edwards, residing in Nebraska. His 
parents had another peculiar conviction — that three 
hours' schooling per day was quite enough for children 
of that age. So these little prairie-boys were kept in 
school only three hours per day during the year, the 
afternoon of each day being spent in work on the farm. 
Of course, this peculiar — and, as some of the neigh- 
bors regarded it, proud — notion, was in marked contrast 
with the popular view, which consigns children of six 
years of age to six hours' daily confinement and 
employment in the school-room, and enforces as much 
study as possible in the evening, after school-hours, and 



30 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

again in the morning, before school-hours. There is no 
doubt that for George, with his dehcate health, this 
combination of out-door exercise with in-door confine- 
ment and study, was a wise arrangement ; and we have 
little doubt that for young children generally some such 
system Avould be vastly preferable to the crowding and 
cramming processes now in vogue. 

This one year's schooling, joined with the educa- 
tional process that was constantly going on in the 
home and the library, was all the education George 
received before going to college. 

In his fifteenth year — June 22, 1862 — George was 
immersed on a confession of his faith in the Lord 
Jesus, and united with the Church of Christ in Albion, 
under his father's ministry. We have no record of any 
remarkable religious experience at this time. He had 
grown up into such a knowledge and love of Jesus from 
his earliest years, that it was not to be expected, at 
this period, that there would be any sudden or violent 
change, either in his convictions or his feelings. As, 
in the change from darkness to sunrising, it cannot be 
said that there is any particular moment in which to 
locate the change from darkness to light — the greatness 
and completeness of the gradually-wrought change 
being only apparent by looking at the two extremes, 
the darkness that preceded it and the perfect light that 
crowns it — so, when children are wisely * ' nurtured in 
the chastening and admonition of the Lord," the 
change from the dominion of nature to the dominion of 
grace is apt to be so steadily and gradually wrought as 
to exclude the possibility of sudden conversion. Yet, 
when consummated, it is a great change ''from dark- 
ness to light " — from death to life. From the scrupulous 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 31 

conscientiousness that marked the whole course of 
George's Hfe, we may be sure that this pubHc conse- 
cration to the service of Christ was not decided on 
without the most profound sincerity and earnestness ; 
and from all its fruits in after life, none can doubt that 
it involved a genuine, intelligent and heartfelt trust in, 
and devotion to, Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. 
Whatever importance may be attached to the special 
emotions that sometimes characterize the hour of decis- 
ion ; whatever fondness we may have for lingering over 
the phenomena attendant on wonderful conversions ; it 
is yet true that the only sure final test of the genuineness 
of conversion is to be sought in a subsequent supreme 
devotion of heart and life to the service of God. '' He 
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it 
is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved 
of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest 
myself unto him " (John xiv. 21). 

Soon after he united with the church he began to 
take part in prayer-meetings, and in the social religious 
gatherings that were often held at his father's house 
and the houses of near neighbors. But this was a sore 
struggle against his extreme diffidence, and was only 
successful through a strong sense of duty which, with 
him, was supreme. In a journal which he kept for 
some time, beginning with his public confession of 
Christ, he says: '*I sometimes desired to take part in 
the prayer-meetings, but was afraid to make the 
attempt. Pa used to say it was a lack of faith — and 
perhaps it was; it was a lack somewhere, I know." It 
was evident to his parents and other close observers 
that, with all his natural timidity, his heart was more 
and more possessed of a desire to speak forth the faith 



32 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

and love that inspired it, although his sensitiveness and 
diffidence prevented him from saying so. His growing 
aptitude of speech and evident heart-longings to 
communicate to others the love of God that filled his 
own soul, gave great joy to his parents, and they 
became very anxious that he should enjoy the benefits 
of a course of instruction in some college, the surround- 
ings of which would be favorable to the development 
of his religious faith and his natural gifts. But their 
means were so limited that they could indulge this only 
as an anxious wish or a fond dream. At this juncture, 
his aunt, ]\Irs. Emma Pentecost, who was then living 
in Indianapolis, and who knew of the decided religious 
tendencies and the educational needs of her nephew, 
sent a most kind and pressing request to his parents to 
send him to the Northwestern Christian University 
(now Butler University) in that city, and to regard her 
house as his home free of all expense as to board and 
lodging. This most propitious offer was thankfully 
accepted, and George was at once sent away to Indian- 
apolis. He was now in his seventeenth year, and had 
never been from home except on short trips and for a 
few days at a time. We may well imagine that his 
sensitive and affectionate nature was tremulous with 
interest and anxiety, questioning whether, with his 
timidity and inexperience, he could live away from 
home ; and whether he could pursue his studies among 
strangers, in the absence of all that he so tenderly 
loved. To such a nature as his, it was a trying crisis — 
as, indeed, it is to most tender-hearted youths when 
they first launch forth into unknown seas, and face the 
terrors of that appalling experience known as "home- 
sickness." Suppressing his fears, and smothering what 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 33 

it IS evident from his diary were most painful and 
overwhelming emotions of grief at bidding farewell to 
family and home — words which summed up all his past 
experience — he went to Indianapolis, in September, 
1864. As a revelation of the affectionateness and 
timidity of his nature, we quote the following from his 
diary: ''This was the first time I ever was away 
from home for any length of time. Until then I never 
knew how dear home was to me. I was almost afraid 
to speak to any of the students, lest they might answer 
me roughly. Prof W. W. Dowling was very kind, 
and seemed to know how lonely I felt.'* His father's 
account of the first day in Indianapolis is more com- 
plete. He says: 

I accompanied him, and remained the first forenoon with him in 
the college-room, intending to return to Albion in the afternoon. But 
at dinner-time George was missing. After search and inquiry, one of 
the servants reported that he was locked up in his room. The door 
being opened, he was found prostrate on the bed, his face bathed with 
tears. In agony of feeling, and with many sobs, he said, *' I can never 
learn those lessons. It is no good to try. I must go home." This 
obliged me to remain the afternoon and accompany him again to the 
college, where I placed him under the special care of Prof. Dowling, 
informing him of his peculiar sensitiveness and timidity. Prof. 
Bowling's kindly interest in him, and attention to him that afternoon, 
dispelled all his fears, and the next morning all was bright before him. 
From that time forth Prof. D. became one of his never-to-be-forgotten 
friends, and the University one of the dearest spots to him in the 
world. 

Let US not treat with levity this seeming weakness. 
It is not weakness, it is strength — the strength of pure 
and warm affections. He who can readily break the 
tenderest home-ties may not be expected to hold any 
other ties more sacred. He who ventures without 
tremor into new paths of life, and carelessly assumes 



34 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

the responsibilities of selfhood, may be set down as 
thoughtless, if not reckless. Lay your trust and expec- 
tations on him who honors his parents and loves his 
home — for his heart is true ; and on him who ventures 
with fear and trembling on the strange path in which 
he is to journey alone and work out his own fortunes — 
for he has seriously and intelligently considered what is 
before him, and when the time comes to be brave, he 
will not be found wanting. We shall yet see this 
homesick, timorous, sobbing boy rising to a noble 
manhood — a manhood which had never been his if he 
had not honored his father, loved his mother, and, in 
true humility, trembled in weakness at the first full 
outlook on the stern struggles of life. 



COLLEGE LIFE FIRST SERMON. 35 



CHAPTER III. 

COLLEGE LIFE FIRST SERMON. 

Summoned home from college — President A. R. Benton's recollections 
of him — W. W. Hopkins's reminiscences — Conviction that his life 
would be short — Effect of this on his spirit and conduct — His first 
Sermon — David Utter's account of it — His own statement concern- 
ing it. 

From September, 1864, to May, 1868, was the pe- 
riod of George's college life — nearly four years. He did 
not quite complete the course necessary for graduation. 
We quote from his journal : ' ' On the Monday following 
[Monday after the fourth Lord's day in May, 1868], I 
left school and Indiana with no little reluctance. As 
my father was about to take a trip to England, it was 
necessary for me to be at home." His studies had 
been subject to occasional Interruptions on account of 
ill health. As he was almost constantly employed, 
during his student life, in Sunday preaching, and some- 
times in protracted meetings, and his vacations were 
almost wholly devoted to preaching, it will be seen 
that his studies were pursued under serious difficulties. 
It was little more than a year after he entered college 
that he began preaching, and such was his success that 
his services were in constant demand. Hence his 
student-life and his public ministry are so blended that 
it is difficult to separate them. There is, however, 
little to be said of his college life, except to record 
his diligence in study and the excellence of his de- 
portment. 



36 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

A. R. Benton, at that time President of the North- 
western Christian University, says of him as a student : 

I have a clear remembrance of his general character, deportment 
and scholarship. He came to the University when quite young. His 
fair complexion and unaffected manner gave him a very youthful 
appearance. He was very earnest in his spirit. He entered with en- 
thusiasm into his work — was industrious and enterprising. He was so 
eager for learning, that he made many sacrifices to obtain it. He could 
not always hire his board in families, but often boarded himself with 
some others. He was always modest in deportment, and simple in his 
manners. This simplicity, I think, he never lost. It was ingrained. 
In his scholastic work, I remember his fidelity and conscientiousness. 
He recited to me in Greek, and was quite proficient, though he was 
compelled by ill health to break off his college course. During this 
time he was engaged in preaching. It was apparent to me that he was 
doing too much about this time. I once visited him when sick, and 
remember my caution to him about overwork. His zeal and earnest- 
ness were such that he could not be moderate ; especially his ambition 
to be a preacher led him to exert himself beyond his strength. 

He was evidently conscious of a power to sway the minds of 
others. This was apparent from his literary work in college, and his 
public performances here. I remember his easy and natural elocution, 
his ready flow of language and ideas, all of which marked him out for 
a public man. These powers received inspiration and strength from his 
deep religious feeling. Nature seems to have marked him out for 
a preacher ; and well he fulfilled this predestined work. 

W. W. Hopkins, of Ottawa, Kansas, one of his 
schoolmates, writes as follows : 

I first met Geo. E. Flower at Thorntown, Ind., at one of his 
preaching visits to that place, during the summer of 1868. I became a 
room-mate and class-mate with him at the old Northwestern Christian 
University, the following September. Austin Council, Geo. E. Flower, 
Richard Flower, and the writer, boarded themselves in the garret of 
the old " Monmouth Bakery," in North Indianapolis, during the terms 
of 1868 and 1869. Prof. A. R. Benton was then President of the 
University. Our room had very plain furniture, much of which was made 
from store-boxes. Our food was simple, but amply served the wants of 
nature. We attempted regular hours for rising and retiring, for meals 
and exercise, for book study and evening worship. Austin Council and 



COLLEGE LIFE FIRST SERMON. 3/ 

the two Flower brothers would leave the city every Saturday, each to 
fill an appointment to preach at some railway town — Geo. E. Flower 
generally going south, Austin Council west and north, and Dick 
Flower north and east, while the writer would be left to keep house 
alone over the Lord's day. Monday evenings were always used by the 
preachers in comparing notes of the several trips, also of purses, and 
results of their visits. 

In my associations with Geo. E. Flower in our boarding-room and 
in the school-room, I can not call to mind an instance of anything un- 
seemly, unkind, or unbecoming the dignity of a Christian and a 
preacher of righteousness. Kind in word, zealous in work, and very 
sympathetic with those in affliction, was the brother whose life you are 
about to set forth in a book. I can think of no instance, during one 
year's association with him, that emphasizes any one of his many vir- 
tues over others, or that makes any one event most prominent in his 
life — so even was his temper and regular his exercise of mind and body. 

His general health was poor during all of that winter we were 
together. Sometimes he would be confined to his bed a few days 
at a time with fever, which occasionally would make him delirious. 
I often cared for him during such attacks. He never entertained an 
idea of living long in this world, but was anxious that his few days 
might be full of sweetness. In his suffering he did not complain or 
murmur. His was a pure and noble character. 

We could multiply evidences of this character, but 
it is needless. All who were familiar with him during 
this period, bear witness to his purity, gentleness, 
cheerfulness, unbending integrity, and unassuming 
piety, as well as to his diligence in study. 

It is evident, too, that at this time, and from this 
time forward to the close of his earthly career, his earn- 
estaess was quickened by the conviction that his life 
would be short, and that what he had to do must be 
done quickly. This thought seems to have given him 
no sadness. To the very last day and hour of his life 
his irrepressible cheerfulness made his presence ever 
gladsome, and his genial humor gave him everywhere a 
welcome. But his naturally ardent nature was quick- 



38 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

ened, in all its powers, into peculiar intensity by the 
ever-present thought, "The time is short." He lived 
on the border of the invisible world, and became so 
familiar with thoughts of death and eternity that the 
unseen became to him the real ; and what we are apt to 
deem the real, was to him but shadow. There was 
nothing sickly in this sentiment. It imparted no sad- 
ness to his life. It gave no unhealthiness to his piety. 
It threw no gloom over the beauties and pleasures of 
earth. He enjoyed the present life ; was in hearty 
sympathy with all its genuine interests ; shared with 
great delight in its pure friendships and loves, and 
gratefully enjoyed its manifold blessings. The convic- 
tion that his stay here would be short simply intensified 
his desire to make the most of mortal life while it 
lasted, alike in the enjoyment of its blessings and the 
performance of its duties — a healthy, robust piety, 
which puts to shame the stereotyped cant about the 
** weary pilgrimage" through this "wretched wilder- 
ness," this "vale of tears," which, shame to say, 
passes current as worthy evidence of genuine godliness. 
Our Lord's life gives countenance to no such sickly sen- 
timent. The shadow of death was over His path con- 
tinually, but it did not disturb Him. He loved the 
sunlight, the birds and the flowers, the green grass and 
the waving grain, the hum and stir of life, and every- 
thing bright, beautiful or grand. He took pleasure in 
feasts and weddings, and entered freely into the sympa- 
thies and solicitudes of domestic and social life, and the 
activities and cares of the sons of toil. He delighted 
in the winsome ways of little children, and paused 
amidst the pressing cares and anxieties of His public 
life to bestow on them His blessing. He loved men. 



COLLEGE LIFE FIRST SERMON. 39 

and was never too weary to labor for their good — 
never so weighed down with His own sorrows that He 
could not seek to infuse courage into the hearts of 
the despairing or lift up the despondent to nobler 
views of life and duty. The consciousness of ap- 
proaching death made Him not sadder, but more 
earnest to accomplish His work while it was yet day. 
As was the Master, so should be the disciple. It is 
a poor return to Heaven for the innumerable bene- 
fits enjoyed in the beautiful world that God has 
given us, to spend our days in unavailing murmurs 
over the shortness of life and the transitoriness of 
earthly joys. An enlightened and genuine piety will 
thankfully accept a life which, though brief and 
shadowy, and subject to the discipline of sorrow, has 
in it the germs of immortal blessedness, and opens to 
its possessor the sublimest possibilities of eternal 
honor and glory. Nay, a true piety will rejoice even 
in the tribulations of this earthly pilgrimage, regard- 
ing them as tributary to the great purpose of edu- 
cating the soul for its eternal destiny; and ** songs in 
the night" will cheer the path of the pilgrim on his 
way, through darkness and storm, to the light and 
peace of the heavenly home. In the piety of George 
E. Flower there were mingled, in just proportions, a 
hearty and thankful appreciation of the blessings of 
the present life, and a confident hope of the superior 
blessings of the life beyond. He thus verified, in his 
own experience, the truth of the inspired declaration, 
that true godliness **is profitable for all things, having 
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to 
come " (I. Tim. iv. 8). This settled conviction of the 
nearness of death — this constant familiarity with the 



40 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

realities of eternity — is no small part of the secret of 
his remarkable power and success as a preacher, as it 
gave peculiar directness and earnestness to his ser- 
mons. 

As a connecting link between his college-life and 
his ministry, it will be appropriate to give just here, 
from an eye and ear-witness, an account of 

HIS FIRST SERMON. 

We have already learned of his first trembling 
efforts to speak in the home prayer-meetings. His first 
year in college was so absorbed in study that he does 
not appear to have made any farther attempts in the 
line of public speaking, and whatever desire for the 
ministry had been previously kindled was smothered. 
In his journal he says: **I stayed at college nearly 
five months, and went home sick. During that time 
I gave but little attention to anything but my books ; 
I had about given up the thought of preaching. In 
the autumn of 1865 I again came back to college with a 
desire to become a Doctor of Medicine. But the stu- 
dents having formed a religious Society, I joined it. 
With that, my ambition to study medicine fled. I well 
remember my first performance in the Society. It was 
an essay. I selected Prayer as my subject, and studied 
a long time on it. When I got up to read it, I 
could scarcely see my paper. The chief benefit I 
received from the Society was the acquaintance I 
formed with the most religious students in the 
college." 

We are indebted to Mr. David Utter, one of his 
college mates, for the following graphic description 
of his first appearance in the pulpit: 



COLLEGE LIFE — FIRST SERMON. 4I 

A copy of the "Christian Standard" has been sent me containing a 
notice of the death of my old friend, George E. Flower. 

As we were boys together in school, boy preachers together, per- 
haps I might say I feel moved to write a few words in sorrow over his 
early death, and in tribute to his many manly qualities. He was a man 
without guile, and one who loved his kind, and who was universally 
beloved. 

Our school days together were spent in Indianapolis, where we 
were students in the Northwestern Christian University, then under the 
presidency of Professor Benton. 

Little did I think when I first met him there that I should live to 
hear him called the " first preacher of the Christian Church." Now, I 
have no doubt that sentence is in every way a just and proper estimate 
of the man. 

I think it was in 1866 when some friend told me that there was a 
•' little fellow " living down at one of the hotels who said that he was 
going to be a preacher. 

I sought him out, talked with him of the matter, and found that 
such was his intention and hope. 

I may confess now, that my prevailing feeling, in hearing this 
declaration of his, was one of pity ; I believed entirely in his purity and 
perfect goodness, but I saw no faintest hint of the ability that he after- 
wards showed us as a preacher. He told me that his hotel life was very 
unpleasant to him, and that he wished that he could get away and live 
among some of the young men who were preparing for the ministry. I 
thereupon, with the boundless hospitality of youth and poverty, asked 
him to share with me 

" My humble cot and homely fare." 

Not that said cottage was of the lowly kind ; on the contrary, it 
was quite up in the world, being an attic in the third story of what we 
then called " Brown's Bakery." This attic, in company with some 
other young men, we shared for many months, doing our own cooking 
and house-keeping, and living in a very economical fashion, as befitting 
our poverty, and high hopes and lofty aims. 

Now, the first sermon, that I am to tell about, happened on this 
wise : 

I had been going from place to place on Sundays, preaching, and 
had agreed to hold a meeting of several days' continuance at a little 
place some twenty miles east of the city, called Oakland, I think. To 
this meeting I invited George Flower to accompany me. I knew that 



42 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

he wished to make an attempt at preaching, and my intention was to 
give him an opportunity, if I could do it — if I saw the way to do 
it without hindering the progress or the good results that I hoped for 
from the meeting. I felt sure that his attempt would he a very com- 
plete failure, but in my love for him I thought that it would be as well 
that he should make that failure then, as to make it later. I could 
break the force of his fall, and encourage him to continue trying; 
thinking all the while that the utmost to be hoped was, that he might 
make merely a tolerably good preacher, after a long time trying. The 
opportunity came, the attempt was made, and I shall never forget the 
revelation that hour brought to me : the boy could preach, and preach 
well, and "without ever having learned." His text was, "Thy word 
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." 

He showed no embarrassment ; held all his faculties in perfect con- 
trol ; and, as one of the good women said the next day, made us all 
"wonder whether he were boy or angel." And much as I was 
delighted, my surprise was still so great that I even yet greatly under- 
estimated his powers. The meeting was mine. I was the preacher. I 
was totally unprepared to find, as I did find, during the next and fol- 
lowing days, that he was accepted by the hearers as one in every way 
my equal, and by many as the one they preferred to hear. 

At the close of his sermon an invitation was given for persons to 
come forward to confess their faith in Jesus. As we arose to sing, I had 
not the slightest idea, although I knew that brother George had 
preached well, very well, indeed, for a boy, that any one would accept 
the invitation. The song sung, I remember, had a refrain to the effect: 

"Oh, I can no longer stay away, 
I can no longer stay; 
The trumpet of the gospel sounds, 
And I can no longer stay away." 

George Flower probably never learned to sing; at least, he seemed 
then not to have the slightest musical faculty. We went down out of 
the pulpit and stood together, waiting for some one to come forward 
and make the confession. The house was crowded to its utmost capac- 
ity, and as the people warmed up to the song, they swayed to and fro 
under the refrain, " I can no longer stay away." Two young persons 
came forward, and, as is usual on such occasions, the fervor of the 
singing increased. As we took the young penitents by the hands I 
noticed that George was joining in the song. The words were all pro- 
nounced on the same low note. Indeed, he did not sing ; he simply saz'd : 



COLLEGE LIFE FIRST SERMON. 43 

" The trumpet of the gospel sounds, 
And I can no longer stay away." 

He preached several times during the week ; always acceptably, 
and with abundant manifestation of the peculiar powers of utterance 
and ability of reaching the hearts of the people that have made him 
so prominent during all these years. But then it seemed little less 
than miraculous that such a boy as he should preach with the zeal, 
wisdom and perfect good taste which he always shoM^ed. He was very 
boyish, indeed, in his appearance ; he was small, and his light com- 
plexion and round, freckled face, the slight lisp with which he spoke 
his words, made the impression upon all that he could not be more 
than fourteen or fifteen years old. He was very young. I will not say 
what his age was, for I do not remember ; but I am sure that this first 
sermon was in the year 1866. 

Now I have told my story. I will leave the moral of it to others. 

It is more than fifteen years since I last saw my old friend, and 
the separation between us has been wide and deep, in more ways than 
one. I have become a heretic of the heretics, while he remained faith- 
ful to the creed of our childhood. We wrote but few letters, and none 
in recent years ; yet my heart is touched and my eyes are filled with 
tears as I read the story of his last painful days. Would that I could 
have seen him once more in these latter years, to talk over with him 
the days of the beginning of our ministry. But as this could not be, I 
now send greeting in this way to all who love him, and drop this tear- 
ful tribute on his grave. 

Of all the men my life has known, no one was a better man than 
George E. Flower. David Utter. 

Chicago, Oct, 14, 1884. 

In his journal we find a brief account of this first 
attempt at preaching, which, as confirmatory in all 
particulars of Mr. Utter's statement, except as re- 
gards the text chosen, and as affording a better 
view of his own personal experience at this trying 
crisis, we here subjoin: 

A few weeks before the close of the session, Bro. Utter asked me if 
I would not like to go out to Oakland — a small town on the Bellefon- 
taine railroad, where he was going to hold a meeting — and help him. 
I told him I would like to go, but did not think I could say anything. 



44 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

He told me to come, anyhow. We went out on Friday, June 8, 1866. 
The house was full. Bro. Utter preached, and one responded to the 
gospel invitation. It seemed to me to be a good, warm country meet- 
ing, free from any city form or style. Bro. Utter persuaded me to try 
to preach Saturday night, telling me that the people were not hard to 
please, and if I became embarrassed, to say that he would go on with 
the preaching. So I thought I Avould try. I took for my text, John v. 
39: "Search the Scriptures." When I got through, I turned to Bro. 
Utter, who was sitting in the pulpit, and asked him to close. He told 
me to go on and give an invitation. I had nothing to go on with : so I 
gave the invitation. Two came forward. That night I slept but little. 
Sunday morning, Bro. Utter preached, and at night I preached again, 
and eight more came forward to confess their faith in Jesus, the Christ. 
Bro, Trowbridge came out to help with the meeting. The first two 
times I preached, I much exceeded my own expectations ; but the third 
time was near a failure : only spoke fifteen minutes — got my ideas and 
sentences all mixed. Almost wished I had never tried to preach; 
thought I would never try again. But since that time I have thanked 
God many times for that failure. I preached one more sermon there ; 
got along better. The meeting closed with thirty-six conversions. It 
is a meeting long to be remembered by me. 

There is a lurking humor in the sober sentences 
with which he closes this account : 

I formed many pleasant acquaintances, and a few that were not so 
pleasant. One old man with whom I was talking on religion, turned 
on me very sharply, and said with an oath that a boy should not teach 
him scripture ; for the Bible said that " every tub should stand on its 
own bottom " — that he had read it many a time ! 

From this time forward we shall be mainly inter- 
ested in his career as a preacher. 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 45 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 

The discipline of poverty — Struggles with excessive timidity — An 
empty purse — Preaching at various points — Why he succeeded — 
Protracted meetings at Carmi and Grayville, 111., Mechanicsburg 
and Fairfield, Ind., and other points — Great success in Evans- 
ville, Ind, — First pastorate — Meetings at Vincennes, Mt. Sterling, 
and Paducah — Practical character of his preaching — Yet ready for 
controversy when it was needed — His opinion of a church cring- 
ing to popular sentiment — His opinion of Christians in the lodges 
of Masons and Odd-Fellows — His style of preaching. 

How far struggles with adversity are essential to the 
development of manhood, may be regarded as yet an 
open question. It is certain that many achieve great- 
ness, especially in this free land of ours — where the 
highest possibilities are not forbidden to the lowliest 
child of poverty and obscurity — through long and fierce 
battles with poverty and ignorance, by an almost super- 
human conquest of the disadvantages and embarrass- 
ments of their early lot. But from these premises our 
conclusions must not be too sweeping. Where these 
have succeeded, who can tell what multitudes have 
succumbed to the resistless pressure of adversity, who, 
under favorable circumstances, might have won their 
way to success? Who can say, even of the successful, 
that they might not have succeeded better under more 
genial influences ? Moreover, many have reached great 
eminence in literature, in science, in statesmanship, in 
war, in philanthropy, and in ecclesiastical leadership, 
whose early surroundings were those of wealth and 



46 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

luxury. Some heirs to thrones have excelled all their 
predecessors as rulers and as conquerors ; sons of states- 
men, reared in luxury and familiar with the pride and 
corruption of courts, have eclipsed the glory of their 
fathers; some bright names in literature and science 
represent old families, for many generations strangers 
to poverty ; sons of rich men not unfrequently increase 
the wealth that descended to them ; and there are not 
wanting instances of voluntary abjuration of wealth and 
station for the sake of a life of self-denial and lofty 
heroism. We must be permitted to doubt whether the 
stern doctrine of the ''survival of the fittest" is broad 
enough to cover all the facts in the history of success- 
ful men, and to question the soundness of the notion 
that a neglected or impoverished and ignorant childhood 
is the best foundation of permanent success in life. 
We opine that a great deal of nonsense is uttered on 
this question. It is yet true, however, and encourag- 
ingly true, that many of the great names in history 
were early associated with poverty and obscurity, and 
became famous through the energy and heroism which 
poverty compelled into development. We never fail 
of interest in the study of such lives, but regard with 
encouraging admiration the struggles of the 

— divinely gifted man, 
Whose life in low estate began, 
And on a simple village green ; 

Who breaks his birth's invidious bar 
And grasps the skirts of happy chance, 
And breasts the blows of circumstance, 

And grapples with his evil star, 

Until " by force he makes his merit known." Such 
discipline develops, however, more strength than 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 4/ 

beauty. It sternly but effectually rouses into vigor 
the robuster virtues, but at the expense of the milder 
graces needful to the perfection of human character. 
It is apt to force an unsymmetrical development. 
The genial Influences of wealth and refinement, in 
which the gentler virtues bloom and fructify, may be 
and ought to be combined with a sufficiently rigorous 
discipline of self-denial and industry, to produce a more 
harmonious and symmetrical unfolding of all the 
powers of human nature than wealth alone, with all its 
softening and effeminating tendencies, or poverty alone, 
with all its rudeness and harshness, can produce. 
''Strength and hea.uty" make a perfect picture.* 

Our young hero, while not an actual sufferer from 
poverty, was yet made to know something of the rigors 
of its discipline — enough to call into play all his faith 
and courage. It is best to let him tell his own story — 
how, step by step, he made his way, struggling with 
his own diffidence and battling with a poverty that 
sometimes reduced him to almost a penniless con- 
dition. At the close of the college year in June, 1866, 
he returned to Albion. He writes : 

I went home rather low spirited, for two reasons. One was, I was 
afraid that I would not be able to come back to college. Another was, 
that I knew some at home would want me to preach, which I thought 
would be impossible among a people that I had always known. Pa 
wanted me to preach in Albion ; but I told him I would rather not, 
then. He thought that I lacked faith. Two Sundays after I reached 
home, Pa was taken sick, and I had to fill his place. From that time I 
preached every Sunday in Albion during the remainder of the vacation. 
I preached eight sermons on the epistles to the seven churches in Asia 
(Rev. ii., iii.), and four on the Bible. The last night I preached in 
Albion before returning to college, two persons united with the church. 



' Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary " (Ps. xcvi. 6 ) . 



48 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

Although, that summer's preaching was the hardest work I ever did, I 
know it benefited me much. I would sometimes think I had told 
everything I knew ; but by the next Lord's day I always seemed to 
have some more. Like the widow's oil, it never entirely gave out. 

He is reticent concerning his preparations for the 
pulpit ; but those who knew him well were aware that 
the reasons why the supply was never exhausted were : 
I. That he was constantly adding to his stores of 
knowledge by diligent and ceaseless study and medita- 
tion. 2. That in his deep humility, self-distrust, and 
sense of weakness, he was constant in prayer for wis- 
dom and strength and unction. He did not sit idly 
down and pine over his insufficiency ; but did his best 
to*prepare himself for his work, and then carried his 
case to God for His blessing. The result was, that the 
water of life, of which he drank so freely, became in 
him "a well of water, springing up unto everlasting 
life." Let all young preachers, struggling with a sense 
of insufficiency, take note of this. It is only those 
who '^/mngerdind thirst after righteousness" to whom 
the promise is made, *'They shall be filled." 

But we get an additional glimpse of the trials and 
discouragements of this beginning of his ministry, in 
what follows. His cash in hand was reduced to fifty 
cents at the time now referred to : 

In the fall of 1866 I returned to college, and started to board with 
my aunt at the Commercial House. She soon afterward closed her 
house, and I was without a home. I went to Bro. Utter, who was 
"batching" with a young man by the name of S. Winfield, and told 
him my situation. I had not money enough to either take me home, 
or to pay my way in the city. If I could find preaching places, I 
might perhaps make my way. They kindly took me in ; and by being 
saving, I managed to pay my expenses during the remainder of the 
year by preaching. 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 49 

Many who have passed through a similar experience 
know that, to a virtuous heart and a sensitive nature, 
there is nothing that will more effectually strip one of 
courage and reduce his whole nature to utter flabbiness, 
than the awful consciousness of an empty purse, with 
no means of replenishing it. To a young man of in- 
dependent spirit and honorable ambition, this is among 
the sorest of trials. All his energies and hopes are apt 
to wilt ; all his courage oozes out. To look such a con- 
dition full in the face without blenching, is a heroism of 
which all are not capable. Just here diverge the paths, 
on one hand of spiritless submission, on the other of 
reckless endeavor, which lead so many to ruin. But 
*'to the upright there ariseth light in darkness." This 
almost penniless youth had already made his way into 
the confidence and sympathy of his associates, and, 
with their help, and the blessing of God, a way of de- 
lieverance was opened — as it will ever be to those who 
trust in God and at the same time try to help them- 
selves. 

From this time on, we find him preaching on every 
Lord's day, and sometimes holding protracted meet- 
ings. At Oakland, Augusta, Zionsville, Mechanics- 
burg, Thorntown, Union Church, Clarksburg, Plainfield, 
Clayton, Amo, New Winchester, Milroy, Lebanon, and 
other points, he preached as he found opportunity. It 
is remarkable that at many of these points, though he 
preached but two or three sermons at a visit, sinners 
were won to Christ — one, two or three at each place. 
Young, inexperienced and timid as he was, he swayed a 
peculiar power over his hearers. There was nothing 
sensational in his preaching. Nor had he the advan- 
tage of superior oratorical powers, or of an imposing 



50 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

presence. Rather small of stature, physically weak, with 
a voice not at all commanding, careless as to gesticula- 
tion, and void of everything theatrical in posture or 
delivery, he nevertheless came into direct contact with 
his hearers and drew them into sympathy with him. 
His youthful appearance; his sincerity; his unassum- 
ing ways;' his plainness and directness of speech ; his 
strong faith and deep earnestness ; his skillful applica- 
tion of scripture ; his pointed and felicitous illustra- 
tions, drawn largely from his readings and readily 
supplied from his retentive memory; above all, that 
familiarity with the unseen world which enabled him to 
surround his auditors with the sublime realities of 
eternity, gave a charm to his simple, forceful utter- 
ances beyond anything to be found in the ornaments of 
a labored rhetoric or the glare of a studied, artificial 
oratory. It was heart speaking to heart, bearing a 
message of truth not be trifled with, of love and mercy 
not to be scorned. 

The college vacation in 1867 was spent in protracted 
meetings. At Mechanicsburg we find a meeting held 
by him in association with Austin Council, which re- 
sulted in twenty-five additions to the church; at Mt. 
Carmel, 111., there were seventeen additions; at Carmi, 
thirty-six; at Grayville, thirteen. In some of these 
meetings he had assistance, in others he labored alone. 
At some points the number of conversions was small. 

In September he returned to college, but was com- 
pelled to leave in November to recruit his health. It 
was, however, but a change of labor, as nearly all his 
time was spent in preaching at various points. In 
January, 1868, he returned to his studies, but before 
that month was out he asked and obtained leave of ab- 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. $1 

sence for a time, that he might hold a series of meet- 
ings at Fairfield, Ind. Here, within ten days, there 
were sixty-eight additions to the church. On account 
of hoarseness he was compelled to close, or rather to 
suspend his labors — for he returned again and again, 
and increased the number of converts to ninety-eight. 
In March, he went to Greenwood, where, though the 
weather was rainy and the outlook in all respects dis- 
couraging, his labors resulted in thirty-six additions to 
the church. In May, at Clarksburg, in a meeting of 
five days, there were twenty conversions. 

At the close of May, he left the college and re- 
turned to Albion. His father, as already stated, having 
determined on a visit to England, it became necessary 
that he should take charge of affairs at home. Through 
the summer we find him, in addition to his home-labors, 
going out frequently to hold meetings of a few days 
at different points in Indiana and Illinois, such as 
Grayville, Carmi, Fairfield, and Marshall's Mill. At 
Bryant Valley, 111. , where several attempts had been 
made in vain to organize a church, he won thirty-six 
persons to the obedience of the gospel. The church 
then established is still flourishing. As an indication 
of his steady perseverance under difficulties, and also 
of the deep though never noisy earnestness that charac- 
terized his meetings, we make a brief extract from his 
journal concerning the meeting at this place ; it is char- 
acteristically brief, but expressive : 

The last two Mondays it rained very hard. One of these nights 
there were only twenty present, four of whom were not members. On 
the second of these nights, there were sixteen present, four of whom 
were not members. Each night we persuaded all four to be Christ- 
ians. It was amusing, the last night, to see us. We were all of us 



52 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLO^^~ER. 

about as wet as if we liad been in the river. We had only one candle 
in the place of meeting, yet I believe the Sun of Righteousness was 
shining on every one ; and when we sung 

"Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead, 
I'll follow -where he goes," 

we all felt that we had already gone through the flood, and hoped we 
had faith to go through flames, if necessary. 

In November his father returned from England. 
George continued to preach at Albion and Grayville 
until the close of the year 1868. In January, 1869, he 
preached at Franklin, Clarksburg, and Greencastle, Ind. 
In February he went to Evansville, Ind., where was a 
church of about fifty members, but without a house of 
worship. He held a series of meetings in the Court 
House, extending from the middle of February to the 
beginning of April, resulting in seventy-three additions. 
The circumstances of this church required his con- 
tinued labors, and for the first time he settled down to 
pastoral work, in which he persevered for a little over 
three years. At the close of the year 1869 he num- 
bered sixty-nine more additions, making in all one hun- 
dred and thirty-three in ten months and a half. To what 
extent that number of converts was increased during 
the subsequent years of his ministry, we are not in- 
formed ; but we are able to say, that though laboring 
under serious disadvantages, especially for want of a 
suitable and permanent place of worship, the church 
continued to prosper, and bade fair to be numbered 
among the largest and most influential in Indiana. His 
withdrawal from the work here resulted in serious dam- 
age to the church. His want of confidence in his own 
ability to manage such an enterprise as the erection of 
a church-building, led him to insist on a release from 
his charge, that some one more experienced and pos- 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 53 

sessed of more financial skill might come in and carry 
on the work. This is a characteristic instance of self- 
depreciation. During his after life, he showed ad- 
mirable financial skill, and there is no reasonable doubt 
that he could and would have succeeded in carrying the 
church enterprise at Evansville to a successful termina- 
tion. It was a mistake, from the results of which the 
church in that city has not recovered unto this day. 

During the years spent in Evansville he made fre- 
quent short excursions to other points, sometimes to 
hold meetings, sometimes to attend debates. Notable 
among these meetings were those at Vincennes, Mt. 
Vernon, Ind., and Paducah, Ky. The result of one 
month's labor at Vincennes was thirty-six conversions. 
At Mt. Vernon there were few additions, but the life of 
the church was at a low ebb, and strifes and alienations 
abounded. The church was reorganized, four converts 
were baptized, the Sunday-school was reestablished, and 
money enough was raised to secure preaching for 
three-fourths of the time. The meeting lasted three 
weeks, and disheartening as it was at the start, it pro- 
gressed to a happy conclusion. He says in his journal ; 
** I never was at a better meeting; never expect to be 
in this world at one where Christian love, reawakened, 
shall forgive and forget so much. Many members, who 
had not spoken for years, were made friends again, and 
it seemed as if the friendship that had been broken was 
made firmer by being rebound. I saw that day (July 4, 
1870), more than ever before, that man is reconciled to 
man, as well as to God, by the gospel. The fourth of 
July was never better spent ; it can not be spent in a 
way more acceptable to heaven." It was a better cele- 
bration of the day than the usual jollifications. 



54 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

This gives us occasion to say that this young man 
had peculiar success as a peace-maker. Mt. Vernon 
was not the only place in which he was successful in 
settling church troubles and personal strifes. In several 
instances of which we have learned — some of them in- 
stances of chronic strifes, the growth of many years, 
and which had defied all remedial efforts — he effected 
complete and permanent reconciliations. He was so 
** swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath ; " so 
candid and firm, yet kind in pointing out wrong ; so 
skillful in subduing turbulent passions ; so successful in 
gaining influence over hostile parties as an impartial 
and wise counselor, that all ears were open to his ap- 
peals, and all hearts melted in his presence. He was, 
in this respect, princely in his power over men. In 
September of this year he went to Paducah, Ky. , and 
held a series of meetings, during which twenty-eight 
persons turned to the Lord. 

We have thus sketched his preaching career up to 
1872, when he removed to Paducah, Ky., where, for the 
most part, his remaining years were spent. To his 
work in Paducah, and in Southern Kentucky, we must 
devote a separate chapter. While we have given only 
a general outline of his work as an evangelist, we have 
said enough to set forth the constancy and ardency of 
his pulpit labors, the faith which laughed at impos- 
sibilities and triumphed over the greatest obstacles, and 
the remarkable power, quite as much moral as intel- 
lectual, by which he swayed assemblies and turned 
multitudes to God. 

There are in his journal many other facts and in- 
cidents recorded, which deserve notice as giving a more 
complete insight into his character and work. 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 55 

His preaching and his writings were so largely prac- 
tical and devotional — so slightly dogmatic or contro- 
versial, that some have been disposed to regard him as 
lacking in vigorous warfare against prevailing theolog- 
ical errors, and in a stout advocacy of the principles 
and practices that differentiate the teaching of the Disci- 
ples from that of the various Protestant denominations. 
This is a great mistake. If he devoted himself more 
particularly to practical and devotional themes, it was 
because he saw the need of it — that there were enough 
to do battle on disputed ground, while there were com- 
paratively few who devoted themselves to instruction 
in the duties, obligations and perplexities of spiritual 
life. But he was not destitute of the martial spirit. 
He had a debate at Paducah, Ky., in 1875, with Dr. 
Mahan, a Methodist preacher, which lasted six days. 
While he was not generally known as himself a de- 
bater, he took delight in discussions between able dis- 
putants, and several times he indulged in skirmishes 
which, while they are modestly described in few words, 
yet reveal a bold attachment to the truth that would 
not suffer its interests to be imperiled by the assaults 
of gainsayers. Sometimes his comments on these con- 
flicts are humorous, and sometimes indignant. Thus 
in telling of one preacher who delivered a bitterly con- 
troversial sermon on Baptism, he says: " He pretended 
to understand Greek, but showed plainly that he did 
not, by saying that * the Greek in Cicero and Virgil was 
easier than New Testament Greek ' — he did not know 
that Cicero and Virgil were Latin authors." And he 
adds : "I stayed one week longer in Illinois than I in- 
tended, to get an opportunity to answer him." On 
another occasion, when his preaching was interrupted 



$6 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

by a somewhat virulent opposer, whom he handled so 
skillfully that, conscious of defeat, the noisy disputant 
said that though he could not debate the question 
successfully himself, he would find a man that could, he 
says : "I told him to bring on his man — which he has 
not done, and I presume never will." Such inter- 
ruptions and discussions were frequent in the 
West at that time, and no one was more prompt, or 
vigorous, or skillful in handling such disputants than 
George E. Flower. While peaceable and peace-loving, 
and always *' speaking the truth in love," he would not 
suffer the truth of the gospel to be compromised. He 
loved peace well enough to fight for it when it was en 
dangered. 

How entirely free he was from all tendency to yield 
his convictions of truth to any popular demand, may 
be learned from one entry in his journal : 

I went to . I had been there but a few moments when the 

members began to warn me not to preach anything that the sects 
didn't like, for they had entered into a league with the other churches 
not to preach anything that should cross the path of any of their relig- 
ious neighbors. I was as easy as the truth would permit, yet the mem- 
bers did not like it, for they care more for the favor of the sects than 
for that of the Lord. No one invited me to return, nor do I think I 
will ever return, unless they learn to care more for the truth as it is in 
Jesus, and less for " the world, the flesh, and the devil." Good-bye, 
church in . 

Had this been said by a theological pugilist^one 
who interpreted the admonition to ''contend earnestly 
for the faith " as divine authority for fostering a quarrel- 
some spirit, and who regarded the declaration ' * Without 
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness," as as- 
serting that controversy is the only means of clearing 
up mysteries — the statement might have been regarded 



THE YOUNG EVANGELIST. 5/ 

as colored by his own prejudice. It might have been 
that the church was merely opposed to violent or rude 
and needless assaults on the prejudices of others. But 
when George E. Flower, who always combined '* sweet- 
ness and light" in his preaching, was complained of as 
too controversial, it is evident that this church was af- 
flicted with moral weakness, and his indignation shows 
that while he had no love of strife, he scorned this base 
and cowardly subjection to popular sentiment. No one 
stood more firmly for the whole truth of the gospel as 
taught in the New Testament, and none preached it 
more boldly or faithfully than he. Any departure from 
the simplicity of the gospel, anything that detracted 
from the all-sufficiency of the Gospel and the Church, 
stirred him to opposition and rebuke. This is seen not 
only in his constant opposition to human creeds, the- 
ological speculations, and denominational rivalries and 
strifes, but in his condemnation of such worldly associa- 
tions as divide the sympathies and affections of Christ- 
ians and impair the efficiency of their religious life. 
Thus he tells of a visit to one church that had invited 
him to preach for them : ** I had a very muddy ride for 
ten miles. Got there just in time for night meeting. 
Found many of the male members had gone to the Ma- 
sonic and Odd-fellow lodges — which only strengthened 
me in the belief that these societies are doing much to 
retard the progress of Christianity, for we find almost 
without exception that Christians who belong to them 
have more interest in their success than in the success 
of the church. They can miss prayer-meetings, but 
not their lodge-meetings. I wish that as a Christian 
people we could be more forcibly impressed with the 
grandeur and surpassing worth of Christianity, remem- 



58 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

bering that it is perfect, and that anything added to it 
decreases its power." The church, with him, was *'the 
pillar and ground of the truth." ' 

Thus firmly and steadily did he stand for the all- 
sufficiency of the Scriptures, the simplicity and purity 
of the Gospel, and the unity and integrity of the 
Church of God. In preaching, his sermons were not 
only clear and full in presenting the way of salvation, 
but bold in their rebukes of popular sins and follies, and 
pungent in their appeals to the conscience. Those con- 
verted under his ministry were won by no sensational 
displays, no revival appliances, no exciting appeals ; 
but by a calm, earnest, lucid presentation of gospel 
truth, accompanied with solemn and searching appeals 
to the conscience — preaching that made sin odious, holi- 
ness beautiful, heaven glorious, and the mercy of God 
rich and free to all. Such converts made, as a rule, 
steady and faithful Christians. 

In another chapter we shall learn still more of the 
high moral courage and uncompromising devotion to 
truth and righteousness that characterized his ministry. 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. $9 



CHAPTER V. 

A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 

Permanent work at Paducah — Six months' service in Cincinnati termi- 
nated by dangerous illness — ^Judgment of physicians — Return to 
Paducah — His marriage and his home — His cheerfulness — Their 
children — Death of their first-born — What he wrote about it — 
Manner of life — Preaching — Pastoral work — Outside work — Dr. J. 
W. Crenshaw's testimony — James A. Huston on peacemaking — 
Results of his labors — A beautiful life. 

The three years' ministry at Evansville, Ind. , was a 
period of transition from the work of an evangelist to 
that of a bishop. It had in it much of his former style 
of evangelistic work, resulting in the conversion of 
hundreds ; and, added to this, was a new department 
of ministerial labor — the shepherding of the flock thus 
gathered ; the instruction and training of the converts, 
the care and management of the church. He was thus 
prepared for that permanent pastoral work in Paducah, 
Ky., on which he entered in August, 1872, and in 
which he continued, with slight interruption, until his 
death. In December, 1878, with a hope that a change 
of location might improve his health, he removed to 
Cincinnati, and entered into the service of the Central 
Christian Church, But his health did not improve. 
After an arduous service of six months — a period still 
gratefuljy remembered by many as one of great spirit- 
ual profit — he was informed by some of the best 
physicians of the city that he was the victim of valvular 
heart-disease, that must speedily end his days unless he 



60 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

promptly ceased his excessive work. They gave him 
promise of but few years of Hfe, even under the most 
favorable treatment, and assured him of a speedy 
termination of his career if their counsels were disre- 
garded. This compelled him to abandon his work in 
Cincinnati, in June, 1879. The church in Paducah, 
knowing of this, insisted on his return to that city, to 
do what work he could for the church without injury 
to himself, and to rest quietly at home or travel abroad 
when his physicians counseled it. His work at Padu- 
cah embraces, therefore, twelve of the nineteen years 
of his ministerial life ; and these were the best years of 
that life. The years before his settlement at Evansville 
may be regarded as years of apprenticeship in evangel- 
istic work, and the three years at Evansville as years 
of apprenticeship in the work of a bishop ; so that he 
came to Paducah fully equipped for his task, bringing 
his ripest knowledge and his fully matured manhood to 
its performance. This portion of his life deserves, 
therefore, to be studied with peculiar care. 

DOMESTIC LIFE. 

On the third of October, 1 87 1, he was married to Miss 
Olive Buchanan, daughter of Col. J. S. and Mrs. J. A. 
Buchanan, of Evansville, Ind. This proved to be a 
most congenial and happy union. It was fully under- 
stood and expressed, before the marriage took place, 
that his life would probably be brief, and that, while it 
lasted, they would work together to make his minis- 
terial labors and their home as fruitful of good as 
possible. Among other things it was agreed that, 
always — when they were together at home, and when 
his public duties called him away — they would spend a 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 6l 

certain hour, morning and evening, in Bible reading, 
meditation and prayer. Their marriage was based on 
spiritual ideas of Hfe and duty. With the feUcitations 
and merriments of the marriage-feast were mingled 
thoughts — solemn but not awful — of another world, not 
far away. Mrs. Flower, with a vigorous physical con- 
stitution, a cheerful temperament, and a healthy piety, 
gave great cheer and strength to his life, heartily 
cooperating with him in all his ministerial work. They 
had a neat, bright, well-ordered home, in which they 
both took great delight, and which was always the 
seat of a cheerful, generous hospitality. His own 
special room for study was a model of neatness and 
order. Every book, every pamphlet, every paper, had 
its place, and was so faithfully kept there that he could 
rise at any hour of the night and go in the dark and 
place his hand on any book or document he wanted. 
" A place for everything, and everything in its place," 
was his motto. He kept a strict account of all receipts 
and expenditures, which was balanced regularly every 
month ; and household expenses were thus continually 
regulated so as to allow of sufficient excess in the 
income to permit a certain sum to be laid by as savings, 
and a certain amount to be used for charitable pur- 
poses. He made no debts. If, sometimes, the bottom 
of the purse was very nearly reached, and the outlook 
was unpromising, it led only to greater self-denial and 
more implicit trust in God — and some of the happiest 
hours of their home-life were those of ** sweet sur- 
prises " which came to them in times of greatest need, 
help coming in to them in strange and beautiful ways 
from unexpected quarters — touching evidences of 
God's presence and loving care. 



62 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

With all his absorbing earnestness of spirit, and his 
heavy burdens of care, he was singularly light-hearted 
and fun-loving. Not boisterous in his mirth — he was 
never boisterous in any mood — he was yet mirthful and 
humorous to an extent that lighted up home with a 
constant cheerfulness, and made him, among his 
friends, ever a genial and welcome companion. 
Indeed, this light of cheerfulness, these flashes of 
humor, never ceased, not even in the last days of mor- 
tal agony, until they were quenched in the darkness of 
death. 

Two children came to bless their home : Edward 
D., who was born May 6, 1874, and died July 16, 1875 ; 
and Georgia O., — known better as ** Daisy" — born 
Feb. 4, 1876, and still living. She was the pride of 
her father's heart, and grew up to be his constant 
companion, going with him to weddings and funerals 
and social gatherings so constantly that she was always 
expected on such occasions. We find among his 
unpublished papers, one written on the day of the 
death of his first-born, which, as revealing the strength 
of his affection, and the bitterness of his grief, is 
worthy of a place here. 

July 16, 1875. 
What is Left. 

" It is a time for memory and for tears." Only fourteen months 
ago a little treasure came to us. What new beauties we saw in him 
each day! What possibilities, what a promising future we saw in 
him ! Like the kaleidoscope, each time it is put to the eye a fresh 
picture is seen. How much truer it was of him ! But, now — what 
shall we say ? The bow of promise, with its variegated beauty, has 
melted away ; the beautiful vase is shivered ; the picture has vanished. 

What is left ? A little buggy — but it is empt3\ Was there ever a 
more interesting picture than that of the plump little boy, with fair 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 6$ 

skin, surrounded by the trimmings of blue ? How the children 
stopped to play with him on the street ! Strangers asked who he was. 
Wheel the buggy aside. To a few, it has a history. 

Then, there is his cradle — but you need not rock it; he sleeps 
without waking. "Peaceful be thy silent slumbers." " Hush!" we 
have often said; "don't wake the baby ! " What would we not give 
to wake him now! Does he hear no voice? Is it only a sleep? We 
have heard that he is not dead, but sleeping — that there is a Voice at 
the sound of which he will spring into life again. Put the cradle away 
beside his carriage. Perhaps angels rock him in the cradle of Eternal 
Love. 

There is that dress, made for him only a few days ago. Fold it 
up ; he never wore it — he never will wear it. Like his own little soul, 
it has never been soiled. Why drop that tear ? He who clothes the 
lily, has He not a white robe for him? Lay it aside : like our little 
boy, it seems that it will never do what it was made for. 

Shoes with holes in the toes. He never learned to walk — but how 
many times he tried ! Perhaps now the children of the upper fold are 
teaching him to walk by the river of life — for where he has gone we 
are told that they "walk in white." The first hymn I ever learned, 
began : 

Around the throne of God in heaven, 
Thousands of children stand. 

If that be true, I know where he is now. Little shoes, your mission 
is filled. 

Who can tell of the garments he used to wear; of the playthings 
he scattered over the room just as often as they were picked up? 
Well, they have their history ; they teach a deeper and a sweeter lesson 
than all the relics of ancient saints that fill the churches and cathe- 
drals. 

But more than these were the little words of his, spoken in his 
own way — words that belonged to him as much as anything we have 
spoken of. His cute little tricks ; his cunning looks ; his laughing 
eyes. How he kissed when he wanted anything ! Did we think him 
slow to learn ? He will learn faster now. How he used to sing his 
"sleepy song." We are told that the angels will now teach him "how 
to sing a sweeter song." If they do, may I some day hear that song. 

Did I hear some one say, "This is nothing strange; many times 
each day some babe as sweet, as pure, as promising as yours, passes 
from this earth away " ? I do not deny it ; but if this is so, O God, 
hasten that day when we shall be with that congregation of children. 



64 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

During those days of sickness, how faith and doubt, hope and 
fear, chased each other like shadow and sunshine. The pain we could 
not reheve; the fever we could not break; physician, father, mother, 
friends, all alike were helpless. Did you say, "Why did you not 
pray? " Pray ? ah! did we not ? 

But what are prayers on the lips of death, 

Filling and chilling with hail ? 
What are prayers but wasted breath 

Beaten back by the gale ? 

In the great future we may learn why it is written, " Not my will, but 
Thine, be done." 

Such a nature, with such a companionship, in such 
a home, could not but be inspired to do its best ; and 
the sorrows and griefs that mingled with its joys, only 
mellowed the heart into deeper sympathy with suf- 
fering, better submission to the will of God, and 
completer meetness for ' ' the inheritance of the saints 
in light." 

MANNER OF LIFE. 

The morning was given up to hard study. After 
dinner, an hour or so was spent in reading the papers 
and writing letters. The rest of the afternoon was 
spent, until tea-time, In visiting. The evenings were 
generally given to religious meetings or to social inter- 
course ; or, if time was saved from these, to the reading 
of newspapers and periodicals, to many of which he 
was a regular subscriber. He seldom sat down, unless 
in presence of company, without a paper or book in 
his hand. He was an enthusiastic lover of books, and 
a retentive memory enabled him to preserve the treasures 
of thought and sentiment which he diligently gathered. 
That which he deemed especially worthy of preserva- 
tion for use, was copied into a book or deposited in a 
drawer kept for that purpose. He spent much time on 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 6$ 

his sermons, and wrote out copious notes, but never 
took tliese to the pulpit with him. On the Lord's day, 
he rose earUer than usual, and, apart from the hours 
devoted to public services, spent the day alone with 
God — usually, before going to church, taking a solitary 
walk to the river and back. In society, he was cheer- 
ful and communicative — sometimes, indeed, brimming 
over with mirthfulness, for he had a keen appreciation 
of wit and humor, and his sparkling eye and merry 
laugh often revealed it — but he was never garrulous in 
speech or undignified in manner. He was especially 
careful to visit the poor, the sick and suffering, and 
always had an open purse and ready hand to relieve 
distress. He loved little children, and they loved him. 
They were always free to approach him without embar- 
rassment, and among the children of Paducah he was 
known familiarly as *' Brother Flower." He remarked, 
towards the close of his life, that if he had one regret, 
it was that he was ever out of patience with children. 
While he was uncompromising in his adherence to 
righteousness, and frank and bold in his opposition 
to every form of evil and iniquity, publicly and 
privately rebuking sin, and particularly the sins most 
prevalent, thereby oftentimes provoking * * the gainsay- 
ing of sinners against himself," he inspired no lasting 
enmities. Incapable of malice himself, full of good 
will to all men, it soon came to be understood that his 
keenest rebukes proceeded from worthy motives — and 
even those whom he censured most severely learned 
to respect his rebukes as the wounds of a friend, 
intended for their good. Hence it occurred that, at 
his funeral, even the saloon-keepers, whom he had op- 
posed boldly and persistently, thronged to the burial 



66 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

services and mingled their tears with those of all other 
classes of the community over the death of an honest 
and noble man. 

PREACHING. 

His appearance in the pulpit, as we have already- 
stated, was not imposing. He was five feet seven 
inches in hight, and of rather diminutive structure, 
weighing only about one hundred and twenty pounds. 
He had auburn hair, dark brown eyes, fair complexion, 
and for the last few years of his life was near-sighted, 
which compelled him to use glasses most of the time. 
But he had an honest, earnest, manly countenance, 
which commanded respect. His voice was not, either 
in tone or compass, favorable to oratory. He was not 
a master of elocution. His reading was defective ; his 
quotations, especially from the poets, were unskillfully 
rendered. He made no attempt at graceful oratorical 
action. He paid little attention to style. Yet every- 
body liked to hear him, and throughout the twelve 
years of his ministry in Paducah, the house in which 
he preached was packed every Sunday night with eager 
auditors. There is no mystery about this. i. Every- 
body believed him to be an honest, upright, godly 
man, who practiced what he taught. His **untirable 
and continuate goodness " carried with it more than the 
charm of oratory. 2. He always had something to say 
that was worth hearing. He never entered the pulpit 
without much research and diligent preparation. 3. 
His manner was artless, unaffected, genuine. His 
phraseology was simple, and readily understood by all. 
He talked in a straightforward, earnest way, making 
his hearers feel that they were in the presence and 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 6/ 

uuder the spell of a deeply earnest soul, whose message 
was not to be trifled with. 4. His numerous script- 
ure quotations were so skillfully interpreted and so 
forcibly applied that new light was constantly thrown 
on the teaching of the Bible; and his illustrations, 
drawn from every-day life, from current events, or from 
history, were so apt and felicitous as to afford constant 
delight to his auditors. J. W. Higbee, in a tribute to 
his memory in the ** Old Path Guide," of Oct. 10, 1884, 
says : * ' During a speech of thirty minutes in length, 
at a convention in Henderson, Ky., he made thirty- 
one distinct and accurate quotations from the Bible and 
other books, each one throwing a straight, white ray of 
light on the main point before him." 5. His themes 
were such as excited general interest. He seldom 
meddled with abstruse theological questions — not even 
when specially requested so to do. He preached the 
gospel in its fullness, adhering closely to New Testa- 
ment models. He taught faithfully all Christian 
duties, emphasizing those that belong to every-day 
life — self-control, family piety, industry, honesty and 
integrity in business, faithfulness in church-life, benevo- 
lence, philanthropy, forgiveness of injuries, etc. He 
dealt faithfully with popular follies, vices and iniquities. 
He did not fear to call every sin by its own proper 
name, and to drag its hideousness into the light, that 
all might learn to abhor it. While this was done in 
kindness, it was also done with a fearless earnestness 
that often rose into indignation. His pulpit was recog- 
nized as one of the greatest moral forces in Paducah, 
and the guilty dreaded its power. His preaching and 
teaching had constant reference to the cultivation of 
the intellectual and spiritual tastes of his hearers by 



68 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

solid and attractive instruction, rather than to amuse- 
ment for the hour by a display of pulpit pyrotechnics. 
In illustration of this, we may state that when he 
noticed a great lack among the young people of profit- 
able reading — a lack which led him to purchase, at his 
own cost, a considerable number of books to be used 
as a circulating library under his own direction — he 
was at pains to prepare a series of lectures on the 
Lives and Times of Eminent Reformers, which he 
delivered from the pulpit to crowded houses — the old, 
as well as the young, taking a deep interest in them, 
and many being excited to a new and large course of 
reading in Biography and History. The substance of 
these lectures was afterwards given in a series of 
sketches in the ''Christian Standard," and now form 
the larger part of the present volume. Those who 
read them will be able to form some estimate of the 
wide range of reading and study required in their 
preparation, with no other end in view at the time than 
the intellectual and spiritual improvement of his regu- 
lar hearers. 

We may add that his sermons were short, seldom 
exceeding thirty minutes in delivery. They had in 
them few redundant words or sentences. Rich in 
thought, he made as few words as possible bear the 
burden of its expression, and never bewildered or 
wearied his hearers by verbosity. The close of his 
sermons left his hearers eager to hear him again. It 
was truly said by Elder George Darsie, in his funeral 
sermon, that *'he was simply a plain, easy, practical 
talker, talking right at men's hearts, without pretense 
or affectation, pouring into them the rich treasures of 
truth and love with which his own amply stored mind 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 6g 

was filled, animated and inspired by such a manifest 
desire to do them good, that none could help receiving 
benefit from every word he uttered." 

PASTORAL WORK. 

Out of the pulpit his labors were incessant, but so 

systematically pursued that he seemed seldom in a 
hurry. If, during his preaching, his quick eye, as it 
glanced over the congregation, detected the presence 
of strangers, instantly on dismission he was at the 
front door, waiting to greet them as they went out, and 
to learn where they were stopping; and on Monday 
morning they were sure of a friendly call and of what- 
ever assistance he could render to make their stay in 
Paducah agreeable. He was present at all the officers' 
meetings, to give his counsel and cooperation in the 
management of all church affairs. He presided at all 
the prayer-meetings, frequently varying the exercises, 
infusing freshness into the services, and enlisting as 
many as possible in an active participation in the devo- 
tions. He personally visited all who attended his 
preaching, giving especial attention to the poor and the 
afflicted ; and, outside of his regular hearers, he was 
frequently called on to visit the sick and suffering of 
other religious communions. He always superintended 
his Sunday-school, and drilled the teachers in their 
duties at the Teachers' meeting — not omitting a drill in 
the management and instruction of the infant class. He 
gave personal attention to the music of the Sunday- 
school, looking out the freshest and best music. So 
thorough was his Sunday-school instruction and 
discipline, so great a favorite was he with the children, 
and so diligent and faithful was the preparation of 



70 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

the teachers for their class-work, that the school soon 
became a model of order and efficiency, and the church 
was steadily enriched and strengthened from the school. 
Many of the firmest and most active members of the 
Christian Church in Paducah to-day, graduated from 
the Sunday-school into the church. 

He brought the church into the exercise of system- 
atic benevolence. James A. Huston, associated with 
him in the eldership of the church, writes: ''The 
church never did any missionary work until he came. 
At evening service, twice a month, he took up a collec- 
tion for missionary purposes, and twice a month for 
charitable uses — thus accumulating a good fund for 
each object." And Dr. J. W. Crenshaw, of Cadiz, 
Ky., speaking of a missionary convention held in 
Paducah in 1883, says; "This convention is memo- 
rable from the fact that, contrary to all expectations, 
the contributions far exceeded anything that had been 
previously known. For this result probably more 
credit is due to George E. Flower than to any other 
person, as it is known that a very large portion of the 
amount pledged came from the Paducah church." 

His home was a center of life-giving and life- 
sustaining influences. Everybody was welcome. Those 
who were strong and happy came to enjoy the charm of 
free and hearty unconventional social life. The poor 
and weak and disconsolate came for counsel and sym- 
pathy and help ; and they never came in vain. The 
young delighted to come to one whom they knew to 
be their friend; and here, in the library, among his 
books and papers, he would talk to them of books and 
their authors, enlivening the talk with sparkling anec- 
dotes, and then lay out a course of reading for 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. /I 

them, giving them free access to his own library, and 
frequently purchasing books at his own cost to meet 
their special wants. 

In addition to all these methods of usefulness, he 
found time to write largely for religious papers, espe- 
cially for the *' Christian Standard," which was his 
favorite religious newspaper. These contributions were 
always meaty. They were generally brief and pointed ; 
sometimes racy and piquant ; sometimes grave, strong 
and eloquent ; always readable. We doubt if, in them 
all, there is a word which, dying, he wished to blot. 
He also wrote frequently for secular papers, on themes 
of local interest, or accounts of his travels during his 
vacations. Only a few weeks before his death he wrote 
from Dakota to one of the Paducah papers. Indeed, 
he was nearly as busy with his pen as with his tongue. 

OUTSIDE WORK. 

During these twelve years, he did a large amount of 
work outside of his church sphere. He was actively in- 
terested in everything belonging to the welfare of Pa- 
ducah, especially its moral welfare. When he found bet- 
ting and gambling openly practiced at the Fair Grounds, 
he went to the prosecuting attorney to learn why such 
violations of law were practiced with impunity; and 
being informed that no information had been laid in 
against the offenders, he proceeded at once to gather 
information, and in his own name made complaint to 
the authorities. Those who were cognizant of the 
facts speak of his excitement and indignation over this 
affair as extraordinary. His work in behalf of temper- 
ance was unremitting. The Murphy Movement in 
Paducah, which, in its public operations, continued 



72 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

with unbroken interest for over four months, and pro- 
duced a great moral revolution, was largely organized 
and sustained by him. James A. Huston, his intimate 
associate, testifies : 

Never in the history of Paducah was such a work done for the 
temperance cause as he initiated and helped to carry on. When the 
Murphy wave swept over the country, he sent for one of their evan- 
gelists, and though every other minister here but one stood aloof, he, 
never daunted, went to work, and in the face of all manner of discour- 
agements, succeeded in setting on foot a mission that did more for 
Paducah than any other moral effort ever made in its history ; and so 
full was he at all times of interest in this cause, that every opportunity, 
in the pulpit and out of it, found him defending and advocating total 
abstinence — and yet he had a friend in every saloon-keeper here ! 

His friends think that his excessive labors through 
these four months brought on the disease of which he 
died. He was never so well afterward. 

He was also the means of establishing a Monday 
morning preachers' meeting in Paducah, at which 
nearly all the Protestant ministers of the city assembled 
to cultivate friendship, compare notes of labor, discuss 
important theological questions, and devise means of 
cooperation in the promotion of common interests. 
These meetings have been so rich in practical results 
that they are still regularly held. 

He was in the habit of taking a vacation during the 
months of July and August ; but vacation, with him, 
did not mean idleness or self-indulgence. He spent 
these months, until his growing weakness forbade it, in 
holding protracted meetings in needy places. At many 
points in southern Kentucky and southern Illinois he 
held such meetings, even in these hot months. We 
have no record of details ; but from all we know of his 
previous labors as an evangelist, we doubt not that 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 73 

churches were quickened into new life, and many sin- 
ners turned to the Lord. 

His temperance work extended far out from 
Paducah, and so did his influence as a preacher. The 
most efficient organization for Sunday-school and mis- 
sionary work in South Kentucky, in connection with 
the Churches of Christ, is the South Kentucky Sunday- 
school Association, afterwards changed to the South 
Kentucky Christian Missionary and Sunday-school 
Association. It has awakened the churches to activity 
and combined their resources In a way to accomplish 
a vastly larger and more effective work than was ever 
before attempted. In fostering and managing this 
work, George E. Flower bore an important part. Dr. 
J. W. Crenshaw, another of its prime movers and 
efficient managers, has favored us with many details of 
this benevolent enterprise, of which we can only speak 
here in a general way. Concerning the part borne by 
our Paducah preacher, he says : 

It was in 1877, at one of these S. S. Conventions, at Hopkinsville, 
Ky., that I first met Bro. Flower, and when he first identified himself 
with the work which is now developed into a systematic business- 
working missionary association. From that date to the time of his 
death, he was a warm supporter of the movement, not only by his per- 
sonal influence, but by contributing liberally from his private means. 
Generally he was on the Executive Committee, and there his wise 
counsel contributed largely to the success of the work. Whenever he 
would consent, his name was placed on the programme of the annual 
meetings. These addresses, I doubt not, will be among the most val- 
uable that will be placed in the hands of his biographer. 

At the Princeton, Ky., meeting, in 1878, after considerable 
discussion, we added to our Sunday-school work the missionary feature, 
and the name of our association was changed to "The South Kentucky 
Christian Missionary and Sunday-school Association." While Bro. F. 
was not present at that meeting, on account of the feeble condition of 
his health, he knew of the contemplated change, and saw the wisdom 



74 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

of the movement, and by giving it his hearty endorsement enabled us 
to make it a grand success. In a movement of this kind it is expected, 
in the beginning, that, in the multiplicity of views entertained by the 
brethren, who are comparative strangers to each other, there will be 
considerable discussion. Our movement in South Kentucky has not been 
an exception to the rule. There are a few men upon whom we have de- 
pended, in the "wind-up," to make speeches of reconciliation. 
Prominent among these was the beloved Flower. If there was a little bad 
spirit existing in consequence of the heat of the discussion, a speech from 
him was sure to dispel it. I know that I express the feeling of the 
entire Executive Committee when I say that if, on arrival at one of the 
places of these meetings, we learned that Bro. Flower would not be in 
attendance, we felt that there was no one capable of filling his place. 
At the Paducah Convention, in 1883, it was the tmiversal remark that 
the entertainment of the meeting was the most systematic and business- 
like that had ever been witnessed in South Kentucky Though Bro. 
Flower was seemingly hardly able to be up, his slight form was seen 
everywhere, directing and managing the movements of the convention. 

At the last convention at Mayfield, in June last, he was in attend- 
ance, with the distinct understanding that, on account of his feeble 
health, he was not to be called upon to participate publicly in any of 
the exercises. This was a great disappointment to his friends, many of 
whom thought that that would probably be the last opportunity- they 
would ever have of hearing him. But such was the interest which he 
felt in the success of the meeting, that he wrote, asking that Bro. Geo. 
Darsie be requested to fiU his place on the programme, proposing to 
defray his expenses, which he did. He was compelled to leave May- 
field before the close of the convention, but was able to come aboard 
the train the morning after the convention closed, as it passed Padu- 
cah, and bid us all farewell. 

His appearance that morning is doubtless indelibly stamped on 
the minds of many who saw him. I believe that he felt confident then 
that he would not live imtil the next annual session of the convention 
which he had learned to love so well. 

We cannot complete this picture without more 
special reference to that peacemaking spirit to which 
Dr. Crenshaw refers as of such value in the sometimes 
exciting and exasperating discussions in deliberative 
assemblies. It was not the least valuable feature of 



A SHEPHERD OF SOULS. 75 

his ministerial work — the spirit of peace which he 
everywhere diffused. His colleague, James A. Huston, 
says of this : 

He had a peculiar tact for harmonizing discussions. Seldom did 
any trouble spring up, that he did not manage to nip it in the bud. 
During his pastorate in Paducah there is no record of any strife that 
marred the peace and harmony of the church. As for himself, he 
would not let any one stay mad at him, and he had a way of influenc- 
ing others toward others to the same end. It was the same way in the 
community at large. He never faltered to attack vice and immorality 
in the city. Sometimes he would be so pointed as to stir the wrath of 
the guilty — but it was only for the moment. His inflexible adherence 
to truth and right always commanded respect, and after a sober thought 
they always said, "All right." 

During the first six years of his ministry In Padu- 
cah the church records were very imperfectly kept, and 
it is impossible to obtain exact statistics of the growth 
of the church. As nearly as can be learned, there 
were over two hundred conversions during his ministry 
of twelve years, and many were added by commenda- 
tion from other churches. During the last seven years, 
owing to disasters in business, deaths and removals, 
the church lost seriously in numerical and financial 
strength, and his increasing feebleness and necessarily 
broken labors disabled him from repairing these losses 
as effectively as he otherwise might have done. Yet 
he left a church of two hundred and fifty live members, 
so taught in the faith and drilled in the activities of 
Christian life, and so united in sympathy and love, that 
their future is bright with promise. 

During the nineteen years of his public ministry, 
his labors, as nearly as can be ascertained, were blessed 
to the conversion of about eighteen hundred souls. It 
is impossible to speak here with perfect accuracy. 



76 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

If, in the enthusiasm of our friendship, we were dis- 
posed to exaggerate the virtues or the labors of the 
beloved Flower, the recollection of his intense 
truthfulness and hate of all vain boastings would deter 
us. We should be false to him if we consciously 
allowed the least tinge of extravagance to color this 
sketch. But, in sober truth, and with an eye only to 
justice, we think it fair to say, in view of all the facts 
submitted, that, in our judgment, few lives have been 
more free from blame ; few characters are found in which 
the gentle and stern virtues are so nicely balanced ; 
few men have, under similar conditions, wielded an 
equal power for good; few lives of less than twoscore 
years ever won, in a similar sphere, a more general 
tribute of respect, admiration and love. Let us say, in 
the language of Tennyson, when he mourned the un- 
timely death of the beloved Arthur H. Hallam : 

O friend, who earnest to thy goal 
So early, leaving me behind, 

I would the great world grew like thee, 

Who grewest not alone in power 

And knowledge, but from hour to hour 
In reverence and in charity. 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. // 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 

The valley of death-shade — ^Judgment of physicians — Return from 
Cincinnati to Paducah — Trip to Dakota and return — Last days of 
suffering and rejoicing — Death — Funeral services at Paducah. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil; for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me (Ps. xxiii, 4). 

The language of the Psalmist does not refer, as is 
generally supposed, to what is described in the Latin 
phrase, In articiilo mortis — the hour and article of death. 
''The image is that of a flock led through a deep, nar- 
row, very dark valley, such as abound in Judaea, with 
wild beasts lurking in the thicket on either hand, where 
the timid sheep would fear hurt unless protected by the 
shepherd. The Psalmist says that though walking in 
the darkest valley, dark as the grave, he will fear no 
evil." * The phrase ** shadow of death," in the script- 
ures, always conveys the idea of thick darkness, either 
literal or figurative, — natural gloom, ignorance, afflic- 
tion, — and never refers specifically to the hour of dying. 
Bunyan seized the true thought. He makes his pilgrim 
pass through the valley of the shadow of death before 
he reaches the river. And our pilgrim entered this val- 
ley long before he died. The shadow of death seems, 
indeed, never to have been absent from his path ; but 
from the spring of 1879, when his physicians in Cincin- 
nati gave him a clear understanding of his physical 
condition, he knew that he had entered the dark valley. 



Broadus on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, p. 72. 



yS LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

All subsequent investigations fully confirmed the judg- 
ment first pronounced : there was valvular disease of the 
heart, from which there could be no recovery ; freedom 
from fatigue and worry, pleasant and light out-door 
employment, might possibly prolong life somewhat ; 
but death might come at any moment, and was sure to 
come within a few years. We well remember when he 
came to us to make known the final conclusion of his 
physicians, and to ask advice as to his future. He 
talked about it with great calmness. The professional 
judgment pronounced in his case did not surprise him. 
It only defined more clearly and made more visible to 
him the shadow whose presence he had previously felt. 
We advised him to surrender at once the work in Cin- 
cinnati, which was evidently beyond his strength, and 
seek a field In which he could be pleasantly employed, 
and yet be free to rest or to travel, as his physicians 
might recommend. The church at Paducah was ready 
to welcome him back with the understanding that he was 
not to be overburdened with work or care, and that he 
should be free to go abroad whenever it would benefit 
his health ; and to the honor of the officers and mem- 
bers of that church be it said that, farther on, when, 
owing to his increasing feebleness, he urged them to re- 
lease him and provide better help for themselves, they 
promptly and positively refused, insisting that his pres- 
ence and his counsels were of more benefit to them than 
the active labors of any stranger could be. He was 
now in the valley of the shadow of death. He knew 
it ; his family knew it ; his friends knew it ; the public 
began to look on him as marked for death ; but nothing 
in his bearing indicated his consciousness of this, 
beyond an increasing fervency of spirit and the growing 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. 79 

frequency of spells of suffering. He was cheerful as 
ever. No complaint or murmur escaped his lips. He 
was active beyond his strength. If he preached less 
frequently, he wrote rqpre, and took an intense interest 
in the spiritual welfare of the churches at home and 
abroad. His whole subsequent life was a beautiful 
comment on the text: *'I will fear no evil — for Thou 
art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." * 
Never did pilgrim journey more cheerily through the 
death-shade. He went right on with his work, forget- 
ting himself in his abounding zeal for the welfare of 
others. Occasionally he remitted his labors and spent 
a month or two in the recreation of travel — returning 
joyfully to spend his recruited energies in the work in 
which he so greatly delighted. In 1879 ^^ "^^^ absent 
six weeks on a northern trip, mostly voyaging on 
the lakes, Mrs. Flower accompanying him as far as 
Chicago. In 1882, he spent over two months in an 
eastern trip, Mrs. F. being with him all the time. 
These and other seasons of pleasant rambling did him 
much good. It was painfully evident, however, year 
by year, that his strength was decreasing. His en- 
forced absences from the pulpit were more frequent. 
The audiences that gathered to hear him were not sur- 
prised, though grieved, when they learned, as they some- 
times did, that he was unable to preach to them ; nor 
did this hinder their reattendance, for as the shadow 
gathered with more distinctness over his path and they 
knew that the end was approaching, they were the 



* Very expressive is the rendering of this precious text in Dr. P. H. Wad- 
dell's " Buik o' Psalms," translated " frae Hebrew intil Scottis," published by J, 
Menzies & Co., Edinburg, 1882: "Na! tho' I gang thro' the dead-mark dail, I 
dread nae skathin' ; for yersel are nar-by me ; yer stok and yer stay haud me baith 
fu' checrie." 



80 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

more desirous to catch and retain the words that came 
from lips so soon to be stilled in death. Sometimes, 
after entering the pulpit, he found himself unable to 
proceed with the services, and at last he was "in con- 
flict cloven down" — caught in the arms of a friend as 
he was falling : 

Fallen while cheering with his voice 
The sacramental host. 

His work was about done. He arranged to spend 
the summer vacation in 1884 In Dakota. ReaHzing 
that his end was near, he selected a burial-plot in the 
cemetery, arranged with his intimate friend and co- 
laborer, George Darsie, to conduct the funeral services, 
and placed everything in readiness for his departure. 
In June he started for Dakota, in company with Mrs. 
Flower and her parents, and remained until the latter 
part of August. Of his sojourn in Dakota and his re- 
turn, we have this account from his father, dated Paris, 
III, September 19, 1884: 

During his sojourn in Dakota his health, in the main, seemed to 
improve, especially toward the latter part of the time, when, as he in- 
formed me in several letters, he was really feeling much heartier and 
better, and his appetite was remarkably good, and he expressed his 
wonder as to whether it was likely to continue. 

Only three or four days before leaving, an occurrence took place 
which seems to have been the immediate cause of the sad change in his 
health, and to have hastened his death. In company with his brother- 
in-law he rode in an open express to the post-office, about four miles 
distant, in a very heavy rain. In speaking of it, in his letter, he said 
it was the heaviest rain-fall he ever witnessed. Yet, being well pro- 
vided with water-proofs, they kept dry, and reached home without feel- 
ing any bad effects at the time or during the night. Encouraged by 
what seemed a proof of increasing hardiness, the next morning he took 
a longer ride of eight miles in the same open vehicle with his brother- 
in-law to look at the condition of the oats-crop. At that time the 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. 8 1 

weather had become quite cold, with high wind from the north, which 
was in their face. This long ride in the cold wind, with occasional 
gusts of rain, proved too much for his delicate condition ; he became 
chilled through, and never recovered his normal warmth. At night he 
was taken with a hard chill, followed by a high fever ; the next day 
another chill and increasing fever. Feeling sensible of his critical con- 
dition, he expressed his desire to return home, upon which his father- 
-in-law, Mr. Buchanan, with his family, all started homeward with him. 
When the party (of seven) reached St. Louis, Dr. King, our mutual 
friend, requested him to remain two or three days, and allow him to ex- 
amine his condition. To this he consented, and the rest of the family 
went on to Evansville. What with the pleasant rest and treatment, 
he seemed to improve so much that he was induced to remain nine 
days, which he spoke of in his letters as a most pleasant season, feeling, 
too, not a little improved in health. On Monday morning, the 8th 
inst., leaving Dr. King's house, he rode in the street-car to within three 
squares of the depot, where he stepped into a drug-store to have his 
prescription filled. On leaving the drug-store a strange sensation op- 
pressed the region of his heart. As he expressed it, " It seemed as if 
something had broken loose within." With great difficulty he reached 
the train, after resting several times against buildings. In the train he 
observed an upright position in his seat all the way to Evansville, on 
account of the increased difficulty in breathing. At dinner-time he 
felt very hungry, but feared to leave his seat or position, and even felt 
a disinclination to speak to the porter to bring anything, as the least 
exertion affected him painfully. So he rode on all the way to Evans- 
ville, not a little exhausted, but succeeded in reaching Col. Buchanan's 
house without any evil occurrence. Ate a pretty hearty supper, but 
never ate afterwards, as continued vomiting commenced Tuesday 
morning*. 

Wednesday night (the lOth inst.) we received by dispatch the first 
intimation of his sad condition. Mrs. Flower and myself immediately 
took the night-train and reached Evansville Thursday morning at 
seven, and remained with our dear child to the end. 

On Lord's day, September 6, he was able to meet 
with the Central Church, St. Louis, and then, for the 
last time, administered the Lord's Supper, speaking in 
few but tender words of the preciousness of the great 
salvation, and the sacredness of the memories of the 



82 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

cross of Christ. The cross of Christ was to him of all 
themes the most precious. 

The five days of his last illness were marked by 
extrem.e suffering, *'far exceeding," as he said, "all 
the pains of my past life." But there was ** glory" in 
the midst of his tribulations. All who were present 
during these days declare that these were really golden 
days of joy and triumph. No sooner did he recover 
from the repeated spells of acute suffering than his face 
beamed with joy, and he often exclaimed, **I am so 
happy 1" His wife, father, mother, father-in-law and 
mother-in-law composed the loving and anxious circle 
that surrounded him in his last feeble steps to the brink 
of the river. He talked calmly and tenderly to each 
of these loved ones, telling them all that his future 
prospects were brighter than ever before, and that, 
apart from his pains, this was the happiest period of 
his life. To his beloved wife, who had been to him so 
congenial and devoted a companion for the last thirteen 
years of his pilgrimage, he spoke again and again of 
his departure in a most cheerful strain. He said 
that if he had his life to live over, he would preach 
the same gospel, only more earnestly. His faith 
knew not the slightest tremor. It seemed already to 
have ripened into something so nearly akin to actual 
knowledge, that he could say, in the language of the 
apostle Paul, **Wq kizow that if the earthly house of 
our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from 
God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the 
heavens "(U. Cor. v. i). He told her that the heavens 
seemed already opened, and the glories of the heavenly 
home already streamed in upon his waiting spirit. Not 
a doubt obscured his vision. His path grew brighter 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. 83 

and brighter unto the perfect day. Terrible as was 
the suppressed agony of her spirit in facing this 
bereavement, the dying saint charmed her into almost 
forgetfulness of it by his joyful experiences and his 
triumphant anticipations of heavenly joy, blending the 
life that now is with that which is to come. Bitterly 
as all of that loving circle grieved over the departure 
of one so unspeakably dear to them, the atmosphere 
of that sick-room was so bright and cheery that they 
all loved to be there, and absented themselves as little 
as possible. They realized the truth of what Young 
says in his ** Night-Thoughts : " 

The chamber where the good man meets his fate, 

Is privileged beyond the common walk 

Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven. 

It was to them indeed a Beth-el. With the happy 
alteration of a single word in the language of Jacob, 
they could say, " How lovely is this place ! this is none 
other than the house of God, and this is the gate of 
heaven ! " His mind was not only unclouded, but all 
its powers were in full play. His heart was filled with 
a faith and hope that triumphed over all his pains. 
His lips uttered not one murmur, but were eloquent 
with praise. Even the genial humor that had always 
characterized him still gleamed, pleasantly. "Down 
to his last hour," says his friend Darsie, "this delight- 
ful trait of his character flashed out every little while, 
deceiving the loved ones at his bedside with the belief 
that the end might yet be far off. " "Just a short time 
before he died," writes Mrs. Flower, "I stepped up to 
him and asked him if he thought he was dying. The 
old sparkle came into his eye as he smiled, and said, 



84 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

/Well, OUie, I never died before, and therefore cannot 
say ; ' and then, in a somewhat graver, but still cheerful 
tone, he added, ' But if this is death, it is the happiest 
hour I have ever known.' " 

On Saturday morning, September 13, about ten 
o'clock, he dropped into a peaceful sleep for about half 
an hour, and awoke saying that he was much refreshed. 
Again at noon he slept for a few minutes, and during 
this sleep the end came : he glided quietly away, as if 
death, in place of proving a broad and turbulent river, 
had been reduced to a mere rill, which, crossing at a 
single step, he closed his journey and was at home 
with God ! 

As we linger over the history of the last days of 
this worn and weary pilgrim, we are forcibly reminded 
of the words of Bunyan, near the close of Pilgrim's 
Progress : 

After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was 
taken with a summons, and had this for a token that the summons was 
true : " That his pitcher was broken at the fountain " (Eccles. xii. 6). 
When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. 
Then said he, "I am going to my Father's; and though with great 
difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the 
trouble I have been to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him 
that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to 
him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a 
witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my 
Tewarder." When the day that he must go hence was come, many ac- 
companied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, 
"Death, where is thy sting?" And as he went down deeper, he said, 
"Grave, where is thy victory ?" So he passed over, and all the trum- 
pets sounded for him on the other side. 

He did not die, as he had wished, at his beloved 
Paducah ; but at 5 p. m. of the day of his death his 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. 85 

body was placed on the steam-packet, and both the 
bereaved famiHes accompanied it to Paducah, as it was 
his special desire to be buried among the people he 
loved so much. 

On Monday, September 15, the funeral services 
were held. " Conduct a simple funeral service," was 
the request he had left with his beloved friend, George 
Darsie. He had also requested that no emblems of 
mourning should be displayed at the funeral ; and this 
request also would have been sacredly respected, had 
it been known in time. But, in ignorance of this wish, 
the house and pulpit in which he had ministered so 
long and won so many peaceful victories, were draped 
in mourning. His simple tastes and habits were 
opposed to all useless display ; his modesty forbade all 
eulogy; his strong faith and hope discouraged all 
mournfulness. The letter that follows tells in few 
words all that needs to be recorded concerning the 
funeral solemnities : 

Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 18, 1884. 

I am just home from Paducah, Ky., where I attended the funeral 
of our dear Brother Flower on Monday last, Sept. 15. Words can not 
tell the sorrow of the church and community over his loss. He had 
been longer in the city than any other resident minister, and in conse- 
quence was more widely known. 

The church-building was draped in heavy mourning on all sides, 
beautiful flowers filled the pulpit platform, while on the wall behind 
and above the pulpit, immortelles spelled out the words, in large let- 
ters : "George E. Flower, asleep in Jesus." The crowd in the 
audience-room was dense, the gallery filled to overflowing, while hun- 
dreds stood in the aisles, and both in front and rear, and by the open 
windows on the outside, hundreds more were gathered to hear as best 
they could the services of the occasion. All the other ministers in the 
city, even to the Jewish Rabbi, were present, and were assigned to 
a special! seat at the front. The Circuit Court, then in session, ad- 
journed, that the judge and lawyers might attend. Citizens of all 



86 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

classes, ranks, creeds, trades, were there. Liquor-dealers, whom Bro. 
Flower had always opposed with fearless and unfailing hostility, 
showed their respect for his memory by coming to his funeral. And 
all were there not as indifferent spectators, but as mourners, conscious 
of a bitter personal bereavement. A leading citizen of the place told 
me that, for size and character, such an assembly as gathered in and 
around the church, and such a funeral procession, were never, in his 
memory, seen before in Paducah. The high and low, the rich and 
poor — all, without reference to nationality, temporal circumstances, 
religious affiliations, or any other boundary lines, united in universal 
lamentation over the death of him whom to merely know was to fondly 
love. 

The services at the church were simple and short, according to our 
beloved brother's wish. They were conducted by B. C. Deweese, of 
Henderson, Ky., and the writer. The Scriptures read were Psalm 
ciii., " Bless the Lord, O my soul," etc. ; and a portion of I. Cor. xv., 
beginning, "There is one glory of the sun," etc., and ending with the 
close of the chapter. The hymns sung were the familiar ones he so 
loved, "Nearer, my God, to Thee," "Jesus, lover of my soul," "My 
faith looks up to Thee," and "God be with you till we meet again." 
Bro. Deweese made the opening prayer, and the writer the funeral 
address, which Bro. Deweese followed with a few appropriate remarks 
on the lessons taught by the life and character of Bro. Flower. Many 
brethren were present from distant churches, especially from Mayfield, 
whose pastor, Bro. E. E. Orvis, and his wife, were in the congregation. 

Col. J. S. Buchanan and wife, of Evansville, Ind., the father and 
mother of Mrs. Flower, at whose home our brother breathed his last, 
with their son, Mr. Cicero Buchanan, and his wife, were there. So 
also were Elder Alfred Flower and wife, of Paris, 111., the father and 
mother of our lamented brother. It was much regretted that none of 
his four brothers, nor his sister, were able to be present. 

George Darsie. 

Thus closes the history of a Hfe of less than thirty- 
seven years, but so busily, wisely and earnestly em- 
ployed that it wrought saving and ennobling influen- 
ces in the hearts and lives of thousands, and left the 
earth richer in the purity of many a heart, the nobility 
of many a life, the brightness of many a home, than it 
would otherwise have been. If we count its pulsations. 



THE VALLEY OF DEATH-SHADE. 8/ 

it was a brief life ; if we measure it by its achieve- 
ments, it was longer than many a life of fourscore 
years. It was a life of "righteousness, peace, and joy 
in the Holy Spirit — acceptable to God and approved of 
men. " 



88 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CONCLUSION. 

The secret of his power — His thorough genuineness — Passionate devo- 
tion to his calling — Strong faith in God — Untiring diligence — 
Equipoise — The molding influences of his home, in regard to 
piety, love of books, and habits of economy. 

Remember them that had the rule over you, who spake unto you the word 
of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith (Heb. xiii. 7). 

Not more in justice to the dead than as a benefit to 
the Hving, is this biographical sketch penned. It is 
interesting, indeed, to look upon a beautiful and use- 
ful life, but we miss its chief value if we do not learn 
from it how to make our own lives nobler. We have 
been contemplating a life of much beauty and of great 
usefulness. Can the reader now tell the secret of its 
power f To all young Christians who desire to make 
their lives largely useful, and especially to young 
preachers, this is the important question. Without a 
satisfactory answer to this inquiry, the end aimed at in 
this biography will fail to be reached. But the ques- 
tion is not easily answered. Human characters are 
complex — the result of the combined action of many 
forces, and made up of many ingredients. They 
are sometimes exceedingly difficult of analysis. We 
hear much said of the *' ruling passion;" but we 
are of opinion, as the result of all our studies of 
human characters, that comparatively few lives are 
shaped or controlled by any one ruling passion. If 
they were, they could be easily understood. But the 



CONCLUSION. 89 

government of human nature is oftener an oligarchy 
than a monarchy or autocracy. The supreme power is 
a combination of powers, character being the product 
of various cooperative forces, some of them very subtle 
in their operation, so that a just analysis of the ele- 
ments entering into the combination is a delicate and 
difficult task. 

Our opinion of George E. Flower is, that we must 
seek the secret of his power not in any one overpower- 
ing force, but in a happy combination of forces — in the 
symmetry of his nature and character, and not in the 
predominance of any one element of strength. Let us 
sketch the more important features that combined in 
harmonious proportions in this lovely character. 

I. His thorough genui7ieness of soul. — His character 
can not be understood without a knowledge of this. It 
was one of its strong foundation stones. He was utterly 
truthful, not merely in word, but in his purposes and 
his deeds. There was no deceit in him. ''He never 
spoke a word," says George Darsie, **or did a deedy^/' 
effect.'' What he was and what he seemed were the 
same. There was about him no secretiveness, no 
hypocrisy, no affectation. His life was transparent. 
Hence, every one that knew him, confided in him ; 
whether he was regarded as friend or foe, no one 
doubted the sincerity of his motives or the integrity of 
his life. His words never had to be discounted, his 
actions never had to be suspected. They were never 
below par among those who knew him. In private 
and public, at home and abroad, in the pulpit and 
out of it, this stamp oi genuineitess was on all he said and 
did. He spoke the truth in his heart \ hence, in his life 
also. Where this thorough truthfulness and honesty 



go LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

of soul is lacking, one of the grandest elements of en- 
during greatness is absent, and the character must be 
fatally deformed. 

2. His passionate devotion to his calling. — To mistake 
one's calling is a serious, and often a fatal, blunder. It 
puts one's life out of joint, and makes of it a maimed, 
awkward, burdensome affair, never reaching the highest 
success, and ending often in disastrous failure. While 
some natures are so many-sided that they can make a 
tolerable success in almost any line, there is yet some 
one course of life for which each is preeminently 
adapted ; while natures less evenly endowed must find 
their work within narrower limits, or waste their ener- 
gies in vain efforts. George E. Flower may, we think, 
be said to have been divinely called to his work. He 
found the calling for which, in his intellectual and 
moral endowments, he was best fitted ; and it is one of 
the proofs of the genuineness of his nature that he 
obeyed the call of Providence, and the call of his 
brethren, because it answered to the call that issued 
from his own soul. It is impossible to read his life 
without being impressed with the singular purity and 
religiousness of sentiment that marked even his child- 
hood. When he became a Christian, his extreme 
timidity could not conceal his consuming desire to 
speak of the peace and joy of his heart, and to plead 
with others to come and drink with him at the same 
fountain of life.. The message burned as a fire in his 
bones, and he triumphed over the trembling em- 
barrassment that forbade its utterance. In the hope of 
fitting himself for this work he went away to school 
and struggled his way through sickness and poverty to 
success. Once only did the vision of another- calling 



CONCLUSION. 91 

lure him from this purpose, and that but for a day. 
He talked with his own soul and with his God, and 
when he looked up he saw a gleam of sunshine on the 
path which he hoped, yet feared, to tread, and he spurned 
the temptation to forsake it. But he did not force" 
himself into it. He believed that God ruled his life, 
and patiently waited for such providential intimations 
as would assure him that he was moving in the right 
direction. Such intimations came in a way that gave 
him hope and courage. But might he not, after all, 
be mistaken ? He would test it. Being urged by 
those who knew him best, to preach — and this without 
a hint on his part of any desire to do so — he would 
try just once, and see how the Lord would deal with 
him. He tried — humbly and tremblingly, but yet he 
tried — and God sustained him and crowned his modest 
effort with remarkable blessings. It was David the 
stripling going forth to meet the mailed Goliath of un- 
belief, and the first stone from his sling won a victory. 
He preached again and again, and a divine blessing 
was poured out on every effort — only failure enough 
mingling with it to save him from undue exaltation. 
When circumstances impelled him to preach frequently 
in one place, and he feared that his limited treasures of 
knowledge would be exhausted, he found to his joy 
that, like the widow's cruse of oil and barrel of meal, 
he was still supplied, day by day, according to his 
needs. When, even after remarkable success else- 
where, he shrank from preaching to his own people, on 
his own native heath, he was providentially shut up to 
the necessity of conquering this aversion. Wherever 
he went, the sympathy and confidence of his brethren 
centered in him, and soon he was able to sway large 



92 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

audiences with an eloquence all his own, and sinners 
were won, by scores and hundreds, to a new life. The 
test was complete. There was left not a shadow of 
doubt as to his proper calling. The voice of God, the 
voice of his brethren, and the voice of his own soul, 
united to assure him that he was called to preach the 
Gospel. This settled, he forced away the embargo that 
self-distrust had laid on his sympathies and energies, 
and gave all his powers in a joyful consecration to this 
work. He loved it with a passionate love. He gave to 
it the whole wealth of his being. Sometimes, when, 
prostrated by disease, it looked as if he must abandon 
his calling and seek some easier way of life, it wrung 
from him the confession that he would rather die than 
surrender his work — so intensely did he love it, so 
happy was he in it. This was no small part of the 
secret of his power. No man can do his best who does 
not enthusiastically love his work — who can not say, 
with Jesus, **My meat is to do the will of Him that 
sent me, and to accomplish His work." Where there 
is this enthusiastic devotion to one's calling, quite or- 
dinary powers will be waked into intensest action and 
be made to do good service. Where this is wanting, 
even great powers will work but sluggishly and per- 
functorily. Preachers, above all others, should give 
heed to this. Many, it is feared, enter the ministry in- 
spired only by inferior motives. It seems to them a 
pleasant calling ; it is respectable, and admits one to 
the best society; there is distinction to be won, etc. 
Where there are no higher motives than these, there is 
abundant opportunity for envy, jealousy and covetous- 
ness, for vanity and egotism, to assert their sway and 
pervert the noblest powers to unworthy ends. At best, 



CONCLUSION. 93 

there will be lacking the aroma of a truly spiritual life, 
the fragrance of genuine devotion, the unction of a 
saintly spirit. But where the soul is aflame with en- 
thusiasm for the work, and one's whole nature is per- 
meated with an all-absorbing earnestness to accomplish 
it, quite moderate intellectual endowments may be 
made to yield a rich revenue of power, in spite of the 
drawbacks of physical feebleness, slowness of speech, 
and oratorical ungainliness. It was no small part of 
the power of this diseased and timid man, untrained in 
oratory and rather disdainful of its trappings, that he loved 
his work with a love that triumphed over all obstacles, — 
that laughed at impossibilities, and took no denial. We 
may fitly apply to him the lines which he quoted as ap- 
plicable to WycHffe: 

His strength was as the strength of ten, 
Because his heart was pure. 

3. His strong faith in God. — While he Indulged in 
no cant about Providence, and made no ostentatious 
display of his faith, it was evident that he possessed an 
extraordinary faith in the promises of a covenant-keep- 
ing God. It never occurred to him to doubt them. 
He was thoroughly in earnest — he knew it, and God 
knew it ; they had a perfect understanding. Why, 
then, should he doubt that God would always be true 
to His word ? He had but to see to it that, on his own 
part, his duty was honestly and faithfully done, and 
then he calmly and undoubtingly left it in God's hands, 
assured that his work could not be in vain. He never 
paused to look for lions in the way. He never faltered 
because the work was great and the instruments few 
and weak. If he saw a work to be done, and was con- 



94 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

vinced that it belonged to him to do it, he gave himself 
to it without a doubt that God would ordain strength 
out of his weakness ; and every mountain of difficulty 
became a plain before this young Zerubbabel. The 
faith that removes mountains was his. It was all-en- 
during and all-conquering. This is another element of 
strength in his ministerial life, without which no minis- 
try can be a high success ; for "this is the victory that 
overcometh the world, even our faith." 

4. His untiring diligence. — He was an Incessant 
toiler. His active temperament would have made him 
diligent in any calling. But this tendency was strength- 
ened by his passionate love of his chosen work. It 
was because he loved it that he delighted in it. Its 
toils and cares and responsibilities were welcome to him. 
He knew no drudgery in the Master's service. Love 
makes all burdens light, all toils delightsome. Christ's 
yoke is easy and his burden light, not because there is 
little to do, or little to be borne, but because love 
makes the neck strong to wear the yoke, and the back 
strong to bear the burden. If we learn, therefore, in 
this case, of constant hard study ; of an immense range 
of reading; of sermons and lectures prepared with 
scrupulous care ; of prayer^meetings, officers' meetings, 
and Bible-classes, regularly attended and diligently pre- 
pared for; of frequent sermons and temperance ad- 
dresses during the week ; of essays carefully written for 
the press ; of numerous daily visits to the poor and the 
distressed — and all this with a feeble physical frame, 
seldom free from pain and weakness — let it not be 
thought for a moment that these made his life burden- 
some. The extremest wretchedness he knew was in 
being disabled from the performance of his duties. He 



CONCLUSION. 95 

lived longer and enjoyed more in this ceaseless activity 
than he could have done in idleness. He was as re- 
ligious in doing his work as he was in praying for God's 
blessing on it. He would have deemed it impiety to 
ask God to bless him in idleness. He would have 
scorned to enter the pulpit with unripe thoughts or 
empty head, trusting to the inspiration of the moment 
for something to say. It would have been wicked 
thus to mock the precious opportunity to win souls to 
Christ. He had a rich variety of talents, but about all 
the genius he had was a genius for work. Gentle 
reader, when you look admiringly on this life, and wish 
that you too could be crowned with such strength and 
beauty, please remember the price he paid for success 
in his incessant toils, and learn, like him, to do with all 
your might whatever you undertake. 

5. His self-control. One of his friends — S. H. 
Bundy — in a beautiful tribute to his memory, says: 
**He was the most thoroughly self-poised and quiet 
man I ever met. Little affairs he seemed never to no- 
tice at all; and large ones never disturbed his 
equanimity. Of active temperament, he was capable 
of strong emotion, but everywhere and on all occasions 
he exhibited the same quiet, unobtrusive, equable and 
loving spirit. " Another says of him : ' * He was so 
evenly balanced, so rounded and complete." But this 
was not owing merely to a happy mental and moral 
organization. He was a man of strong convictions and 
strong feelings, capable of being wrought into high 
indignation. He could not have been the man he was, 
without strong natural impulses. He was keenly 
sensitive, proudly independent, and peculiarly fearless. 
The gentleness that made him great was not merely a 



96 LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLO\YER. 

natural gift — though he doubtless owed much to a nice 
natural balance of forces — but the result of ceaseless 
vigilance, of a conscientious cultivation of all his pow- 
ers, and of the variety of activities, physical, intellectual 
and moral, in which he engaged. George Darsie says 
of him: **He was the most charitable man in his 
judgment of others that I ever knew. I never heard 
him say one word of disparagement of a human soul. 
There was no censoriousness in his make-up. He felt 
kindly toward, and spoke kindly of, all. He was "with- 
out littleness or jealousy of any description." And 
yet he was a terror to evil-doers — the more so that' he 
went about his work of expostulation and rebuke so 
kindly and kept it up so steadily. ''Alas, for the 
whisky-ring or lotter}.^" says J. W. Higbee, "against 
w^hich he threw his strength ! He was one of the most 
patient men I ever knew. He could work for years 
with a congregation in order to induce some of its 
members to give up the sale of alcohol, or to correct 
any other great evil, and be as patient and sunshiny 
over it as if it were a delightful and easy task in which 
he was engaged. " And just here was the hiding of his 
power. He could not have done the work or wielded 
the power he did, if he had not possessed a nature 
keenly sensitive and capable of great wrath; neither 
could he have wrought such results if he had not held 
his strong nature under strict control. Had he been 
merely impulsive, his power would have gone out in 
sudden gusts and Avasted itself in occasional violent 
demonstrations. Had he possessed a merely negative 
amiability, he would have spent his life in the utterance 
of harmless platitudes, and wasted what little force he 
had in the solemn parade of Imbecile negations. But 



CONCLUSION. 97 

with a positive and earnest nature held under steady 
control, and its forces kept in careful equilibrium, he 
put forth that calm, steady, unceasing, relentless power 
that was sure to triumph. His calm words had power, 
for they were words of deliberation and of honest con- 
viction ; they had terror, for they were words of 
unconquerable determination — there was a virtuous, 
heroic man behind them. **In quietness and confi- 
dence shall be your strength." 

And this fine balance of powers was manifest in his 
preaching and in his writings. He rode no hobbles. 
He had no stereotyped form of sermon or style of 
speech. His sermons ranged over all the realms of 
life, duty and destiny. It was difficult to say whether 
the logical or the rhetorical predominated. There were 
close reasoning, lively narrative, apt and beautiful Illus- 
tration, earnest exhortation, pathetic appeal, and 
sometimes indignant rebuke. And he wrote on a great 
variety of topics, and about as well on one topic as 
another. In the impression made by the wholeness of 
his nature was the seal of his strength. 

When we consider his power as dependent on his 
environment — it is no longer fashionable to speak of 
circumstances or surroundings — there are three things 
deserving of mention, i. The intelligence and piety 
of his parents, and especially the strong sense, fervent 
piety and beautiful character of his mother. He inher- 
ited many of her admirable qualities, and was molded 
largely in his tastes and habits by her superior skill. 
We may say of him what he said concerning Alfred 
the Great: '*He had, in the first place, the greatest 
blessing that a child can have — wise and pious parents ; 
and then the greatest blessing that a man can have — a 



go LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLOWER. 

wise and faithful wife." 2. The free range of a large 
library, forming and fostering a taste for reading and 
study from his childhood. 3. Habits of industr}' and 
economy, compelled by the circumstances of the family. 
On this last point we take leave to offer a few sugges- 
tions. The power of many preachers is maimed, and 
in many cases almost annihilated by their thriftless hab- 
its, and the consequent incurring of debts which are 
never paid. And the usefulness of many good preachers 
is seriously impaired by the care, anxiety and dejection 
consequent on poverty, culminating in old age in the 
wretchedness of extreme penur}'. But, when churches 
are numerous and abundantly able to support preachers 
at home and abroad, we do not believe that, as a rule, 
preachers need to be dependent on the benevolence of 
others for food and raiment, even in old age. We take 
the case of George E. Flower as an illustration of our 
meaning. He was dependent on preaching for a living 
for the last nineteen years of his life. He never received 
a large salary. For several years his pay was quite small. 
He said that he never allowed the consideration of 
money to decide his acceptance or rejection of an invi- 
tation to preach. He went where Providence opened 
the way, or where he knew his services were most 
needed. He preached much for feeble churches ; and 
the voluntary contributions, even if up to the ability of 
the members, were necessarily small. After he went to 
Paducah, he received one hundred dollars a month for 
the months of labor he performed. This of course 
excluded the months of vacation, which, during his last 
years, not only brought no income, but involved con- 
siderable expense of travel and medical attendance. In 
Cincinnati, he received at the rate of fifteen hundred 



CONCLUSION. 99 

dollars per year, but this was only for part of a year. 
He firmly declined generous offers of assistance from 
his friends, preferring a manly independence. He kept 
open house, purchased a large library, was liberal to 
the poor and in support of benevolent institutions. 
Yet at his death he owed no man so much as a penny, 
and left about ten thousand dollars for the support of 
his wife and child. Four thousand of this was in life- 
insurance policies; the other six thousand had been 
saved out of his earnings. And this was done without 
diverting his sympathies or his labors from his ministe- 
rial vocation. Do you ask how it was done? We 
answer, by the economical and thrifty habits he had 
learned at home in his youth. He kept an exact 
account of his income, and shaped his expenditures 
accordingly. He never went in debt. If his purse was 
empty, expenditures ceased until more money came in 
— though an accurate knowledge of the income he 
could depend on, enabled him to make such an econom- 
ical arrangement of expenditures that his family were 
never in want and never in debt. By avoiding prodi- 
gality and luxury, and by the wise thrift of his wife in 
the management of household affairs, they always had 
enough and to spare, and laid by something every 
year. And, since we are seeking the secret of his 
power, we should not fail to note that this economy 
and thrift in the management of his affairs added not a 
little to his influence. He was greatly respected for 
his success as a financier, though his financiering was 
on a small scale. He stood up as a man among men. 
His word never failed. His check on the bank was 
never dishonored. He was able to share in a manly 
way in benevolent activities. He was both just and 



lOO LIFE OF GEORGE E. FLO^VER. 

generous. He was never heard to complain of a 
preacher's hard lot, or known to beg his way or crave 
assistance on the plea of poverty. On the contrar>% 
when, in his years of illness and of unusual expense, 
assistance was freely offered and even affectionately 
pressed on his acceptance, he respectfully but posi- 
tively declined it. It is not strange that this successful 
management of his business affairs, and this manly 
independence, should have challenged the respect and 
admiration of all classes in the community. Neither as 
a selfish, avaricious man, nor as a spiritless dependant 
on the charity of others, could he have wielded the 
power which as an independent, prosperous, just and 
benevolent man, he did wield over the city of Paducah 
and over large regions of country. We see not why 
preachers generally, by wise foresight and the exercise 
of common sense and ordinary industry, might not, 
even with the moderate salaries now paid, provide hon- 
orably for their own, have to give to him that needeth, 
and still make some provision for old age. 

AVe thus trace the secret of his power to the har- 
monious combination of forces, qualities and habits, 
the absence of any of which would have deformed his 
character. We are forcibly reminded of one of Shake- 
speare's brief but admirable sketches of character: 

His years are young, but his experience old ; 
His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe: 
And in a word (for far behind his worth 
Come all the praises that I now bestow), 
He is complete in feature and in mind, 
"With all good grace to grace a gentleman. 

Our Avork is done. The picture we have drawn is 
little more than an outline, roughlv filled in. The 



CONCLUSION. lOI 

hand of a genuine artist, rather than that of a mere 
amateur, is needed to give a smooth finish, and with skill- 
ful pencil to impart the exquisite life-tints necessary to 
a perfect portrait. But we have conscientiously en- 
deavored to present a true picture, on which the reader 
may look and catch the inspirations of a pure and noble 
character, a cheerful, toilsome, successful life. Parents 
and children, husbands and wives, young men strug- 
gling with poverty and adversity, evangelists and 
pastors, may all be made wiser and better by the study 
of this beautiful character. If this brief memoir shall 
prove helpful to its readers in encouraging them to 
imitate a bright example of faith and piety, it will not 
have been written in vain. 



WRITINGS 



OF 



GEORGE EDWARD FLOWER 



LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE I. 

JOHN WYCLIFFE. 

The gospel which was first preached in Jerusalem 
was also preached among all nations. Beginning at 
Jerusalem, it has to extend to the outskirts of creation. 
We know from the New Testament of the speed of its 
early conquests and the great progress it made in the 
first century ; for before Paul gave up his work and his 
life, he could say that the gospel had been preached to 
every creature (Col. i. 23). In all the cities of Asia 
Minor and Greece the glad message had been listened 
to and its influence felt ; and even in Rome it had made 
converts in Caesar's household. 

Before the dawn of the second century the gospel 
had been the power of God unto the salvation of mul- 
titudes in Europe, Asia and Africa. But it was not 
until the sixth century that Christianity was introduced 
into England. As Gregory the Great was passing one 
day through the slave-markets of Rome, he was struck 
with the remarkable beauty of some Anglo-Saxon 
slaves. He asked whence they came. Soon he be- 
came deeply interested in them and wished to do some- 
thing for them. So he sent as missionaries to England 
Augustine and forty monks. He could not have done 
a better thing. The good seed of the kingdom has 



I06 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

seldom been received into better soil. There was a 
rugged purity, a stem morality, a straightfoward hon- 
esty, in the Saxons that did not exist among the older 
nations of the East. In their dealings one with another 
they were just and honorable, and they regarded the 
purity of woman with sacred reverence. As the steel 
responds to the magnet, so does the honest and pure 
heart to the gospel. Ethelbert, one of the early Saxon 
kings, met Augustine beneath an oak — the sacred tree 
of the Druids — and gave him a kind welcome. At first 
the king had no thought of becoming a Christian. But 
soon, through the influence of his wife and the preach- 
ing of Augustine, he was baptized. So rapidly did 
the new religion now spread, that it is said as many as 
ten thousand were sometimes baptized in a single day. 
When we think what an enemy war is to morals and 
religion, and then learn that for some time the Saxons 
were engaged in war fully half of the time, it seems 
strange that the new religion did not die out altogether. 
But it did not. On the other hand, it took a deeper 
root each year. In the eighth century there appeared 
England's first great Christian scholar — a monk who 
lived a blameless and laborious life, and who is always 
spoken of as the ** Venerable Bede." He is known as 
the "Father of English History." According to Burke, 
he was the ''founder of English learning," and Green 
says "he was the first English historian and first Eng- 
lish scholar.". The fact that he was the author of over 
forty works on various subjects, may give us some idea 
of his industry. Turner thinks that he was acquainted 
with almost all that was known to the ancient world. 
He awakened in the youth of England a desire for knowl- 
edge, and at one time more than six hundred young 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. 10/ 

men were receiving instruction from him. Of the last 
years of his Hfe he says, * * I wholly applied myself to 
the study of the scriptures." He felt the importance 
of giving the people the Bible in their own language, 
and his last work was the translation of the gospel of 
John, the last chapters of which he finished a few mo- 
ments before he died. 

In the ninth century, Alfred the Great was born. 
He had, in the first place, the greatest blessing that a 
child can have — wise and pious parents; and then the 
greatest blessing that a man can have — a wise and faith- 
ful wife. Nor is it surprising when we read that every 
one of his children turned out well, and one of his 
daughters was called *'the wisest woman in England." 
During the reign of Alfred there was a fulfillment of 
the scripture which said, "Behold a king shall reign 
in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment." 
We see in him goodness and greatness, piety and purity, 
in a remarkable degree. More than any other person, 
he laid the foundations of the British Government, and 
by the consent of all is acknowledged to be one of the 
great men of history. One historian says, with per- 
haps some adulation, that he was the most perfect char- 
acter in history. Thomas Hughes, who is somewhat 
of a hero-worshiper, says of Alfred : "He was a saint 
without superstition, a scholar without ostentation, a 
warrior whose wars were always fought in defense of 
his country, a conqueror whose laurels were never 
stained by cruelty, a prince never cast down by ad- 
versity. There is no other name in history to compare 
with his." He took an interest in Christianity through- 
out the world, and tried to help Christian churches in 
Palestine and even in India. He founded schools at 



I08 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Winchester and Oxford. It was his desire that every 
youth in the kingdom should read the scriptures, the 
translation of which he undertook himself, finishing the 
book of Psalms and Exodus, when death put a stop to 
the work. 

''1 have," he says near the close of his life, "striven 
to live worthily, and leave to men who come after me 
a remembrance of me in good works." 

In the eleventh century came the Norman conquest, 
and for some time after, learning and religion were both 
in a languishing condition. * ' Men said openly that 
Christ and his saints were asleep." 

The brilliant reign of Edward the Third began in 
1327, and lasted for fifty years. It was an important 
epoch. He conquered a large part of France. The 
revival of learning, which began with Roger Bacon in 
the thirteenth century, did not reach its climax until 
the fourteenth century. It was said that at one time 
during the reign of Edward there were no less than 
thirty thousand students at Oxford, learning, as Hume 
says, "bad Latin and worse logic." 

Two dark and dreadful clouds were gathering in the 
east and moving westward. The Turk drew his sword, 
and, impelled by a furious fanaticism, rushed westward, 
gaining victory after victory. Everywhere men saw 
the "Crescent crowding the Cross." But now a still 
darker cloud was seen approaching; it was charged 
with poison and death. In history it is called the 
" Black Death," because when one died of this plague 
he turned black immediately. The population of Eng- 
land at that time was about 4,000,000, and of that 
number 2,000,000 were swept away by this plague. 
In these serious and stirring times, in the midst of war 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. IO9 

and death, when the hearts of the youth of England 
were being stirred with desire to know more and to 
rise higher, there was a man sent from God whose name 
was John WycHffe. He was ''a hght shining in dark- 
ness, and the darkness comprehended it not." He has 
been truly called ''The Morning Star of the Reforma- 
tion," and, "The Reformer before the Reformg-tion. " 

HIS COURAGE. 

I mention this first, because I believe that courage 
is the foundation of manliness; that there are none 
who would not be better if they were braver. We 
would soon become a nation of heroes if each one of 
us had the courage to carry out his own convictions in 
everything. Those who have injured others would 
bravely go and confess their sin, and if in their power 
make full restitution. Others who have long known 
their duty which they have delayed to do, would im- 
mediately turn from evil companions and seek Christ 
earnestly and obey Him cheerfully. Now, there is no 
better way of increasing our courage than by studying 
the life and attempting to imitate the example of a 
brave man. There has never been a time when one 
attacked and exposed a great evil, that he did not en- 
danger his reputation and even his life. This is par- 
ticularly true when the evil is venerable with age and 
upheld by wealth, and even more emphatically true 
when it is a source of wealth to a number of people. 
The evil may be opposed with the purest motives and 
the strongest arguments, and still, if it is a source of 
wealth, there is little difficulty in raising a mob that 
will impugn motives, scoff at arguments, and cry, 
*' Great is Diana of the Ephesians." 



no LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

The greater portion of the wealth of England and 
her richest lands, five hundred years ago, belonged to 
the Church. This, of course, was exempt from taxa- 
tion. In addition to this, the clergy could not be tried 
by civil law, not even when they had committed murder 
or were guilty of high treason. Henry II. complained 
that during the first ten years of his reign, more than a 
hundred clergymen had been guilty of murder, for 
which they could not be punished. The priesthood 
were wealthy, indolent and corrupt, and cared little or 
nothing for the people ; and the people, in turn, had no 
affection for them. There was, however, another class 
of religious teachers who had great influence with the 
people. They were called the ''^Mendicant Friars." 
They were the followers of St. Francis, who went about 
barefooted and wore the commonest clothing. They 
were not too proud to visit from house to house, and 
talk with the poorest people. For a small sum of 
money, they promised forgiveness to all, and if a little 
more money was paid they would insure good health, 
abundant crops and faithful wives. Soon they won 
the confidence and affection of the people. At first, 
no doubt many of the friars were earnest and pure, 
though ignorant men. But as they grew wealthy they 
became corrupt, and imposed on the ignorance of the 
people. The song of Friar Tuck, in ' ' Ivanhoe, " doubt- 
less gives a good idea of the state of things in the time 
of Wycliffe: 



The Friar has walked out, and where'er he has gone, 
The land and its fatness is marked for his own; 
He can roam where he lists, he can stop when he tires, 
For every man's house is the Barefooted Friar's. 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. Ill 

He's expected at noon, and no wight till he comes 
May profane the great chair and the porridge of plums; 
For the best of the fare, and the seat by the fire, 
Is the undenied right of the Barefooted Friar. 

He's expected at night, and the pastry's made hot, 
They broach the brown ale, and they fill the black pot ; 
And the good wife would wish her good man in the mire, 
Ere he lacked a soft pillow, the Barefooted Friar. 

Long flourish the sandal, the cord, and the cope, 
The dread of the devil and the trust of the Pope ; 
For to gather life's roses, unscathed by the briar, 
Is granted alone to the Barefooted Friar. 

To call attention to the tyranny of Rome ; to point 
out the ignorance and corruption of the clergy and 
friars ; and to show that they were all contrary to the 
Bible, disloyal to Christ, and ruinous to the Govern- 
ment; was the grand and perilous undertaking of 
Wycliffe. There he stood alone, with the New 
Testament as his only weapon against the Pope, clergy 
and friars. He might have said, as another did after- 
wards, when asked how many kings he had on his side : 
** Only one ; but He is the King of kings. " It was not 
ignorance of the strength and bitterness of his enemies, 
nor was it conceit as to his own abilities, that made 
Wycliffe undertake this work. He began it with a full 
knowledge of the cost, danger and sacrifice that were 
before him. And though he expected martyrdom, he 
never faltered. **We have but to preach constantly 
the word of Christ, "says he, ''and a blooming mar- 
tyrdom will promptly come." His courage and 
strength grew as he went on with his work. This 
courage that will take an intelligent stand against 
wrong, oh ! how we need it now. For, after all, all 
that man has acquired that is worth having, he has 



I I 2 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

gained by fighting. I believe, vrith a living writer, 
that ' ' from the cradle to the grave, fighting, rightly 
understood, is the real business of every son of man." 
It is the same old conflict that began in the garden six 
thousand years ago. Ever\- one who is worth anything 
has enemies that must be conquered. It may be idol- 
atr}^, as in the days of Joshua and Israel ; or Pharisaic 
formalism and hypocrisy, as in the daj^s of the Christ ; 
or a corrupt church, as in the days of Luther ; a sleeping 
church, as when Wesley sounded the trumpet of alarm ; 
or a church split up into narrow parties and warring 
sects, as when Alexander Campbell made his plea for 
the union in one body of all who love Christ ; or per- 
haps it may be our own evil thoughts and bad habits ; 
or it may be our dread to oppose the iniquitous traffic 
in liquor, or to lift our voice against the filth of 
^lormonism. "Be sure," says Hughes, ''there is a 
dark and evil power that is tr\-ing to crush you, and 
me, and ever}^body. That is what Christ conquered, 
and we have got to fight.-" Only let us be careful that 
we are fighting on the right side, and not on the wrong. 
Who does not admire the language of Caleb, who, at 
the age of eighty-five, still retained the vigor of youth 
and the spirit of a soldier: " I am as strong this day 
as I was the day that ]\Ioses sent me ; as my strength 
was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to 
go out and to come in." How much there is in the 
life of Wyclifie to arouse within us the spirit of a true 
soldier, and cause us to put on the armor of God and 
keep it on until we stand in the evening of life, and can 
say: "I have fought a good fight." Looking back 
at the life-work of Wycliffe, let our battle-song 
be: 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. II3 

*' I have done at length with trifling: 

Henceforth, O thou soul of mine, 
Thou must take up sword and gauntlet, 

Waging warfare most divine ! 
Oh, how many a glorious record 

Had the angels of me kept, 
Had I done instead of doubted. 

Had I ran instead of crept. ^'' 

One of the early publishers of Shakespeare said, 
**Read him again and again, and then if you don't like 
him, surely you are in some manifest danger of not 
understanding him." So it is equally true that a per- 
son who does not admire the character of Wycliffe and 
love the man, is one who certainly does not understand 
him. "We are all poets," says Carlyle, **when we 
read a poem well." And we may add that, as we 
study the life of a reformer, we may all become reform- 
ers. The life of a man like Wycliffe can not be studied 
without being admired, and that which we admire most 
we try to imitate. 

WYCLIFFE AND THE BIBLE. 

While he was a many-sided man, with many traits 
of character that are interesting to study and worthy to 
imitate, the great work of his life, that which distin- 
guished him from all other men of his day, and for 
which he is still: remembered and admired, was his 
diligent study and faithful translation of the Bible. If 
there ever lived a man who believed with all his heart 
that the Bible was the word of God, and that its truth 
was sufficient to save the worst sinner and govern the 
church in the stormiest times; if there was ever a 
diligent and faithful student of that Book, it was 
Wvcliffe. His mind was saturated with Bible truth. 



I 14 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

He was familiar with what it taught on all subjects. 
Whether called to help the king and parliament in the 
affairs of the government, or standing before the public 
as teacher or preacher, his arguments were drawn from 
the Bible, and to it he went for light upon every 
subject. It was Count de Maistre who used to say, 
**Let us never leave a great question without having 
consulted Plato." So Wycliffe consulted the Bible on 
every subject. He applied its principles to everything 
in life, both sacred and secular. He believed that the 
word of God was the hammer that should break the 
human fetters that had been forged by Church and 
State. His only hope. of purifying the church, dispel- 
ling superstition, and conquering ignorance, was in 
circulating the Bible among the people in their own 
language. **The highest service that a man can attain 
to on earth," he says, **is to preach God's word." 
And again : ** Oh ! the marvelous power of the divine 
seed, which overpowers the strong man armed, softens 
hard hearts, changes into divine men those who were 
brutalized in sin." Again he exclaims: " If there be 
any truth, it is in the scriptures ; and there is no truth 
to be found in the schools, that may not be found in 
more excellence in the Bible." Once more: "The 
chief cause of the existing state of things is our want 
of faith in the scriptures." Hundreds, and even thou- 
sands, of such sayings might be gathered from his 
writings. His daily communion with God in the study 
of the Bible made him one of the few great controver- 
sialists who never became dogmatic, narrow or unkind. 
Thus, with the New Testament as his daily companion, 
he answered arguments, refuted falsehoods, solved 
difficulties, and all the time kept alive an intense hatred 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. II5 

for sin and love for man. It was that Book that formed 
his tastes, created his style, and enabled him to make 
arguments that all the powers of Rome could not 
answer, in language so simple that any child could un- 
derstand him. It gave him strength to forge and 
discharge those thunderbolts that shook England like 
an earthquake, woke up Europe, and made the founda- 
tions of Rome tremble — thunderbolts the sound of 
which still echoes in our ears. He was preeminently a 
man of one book, and it was the best. As Mrs. 
Browning has said of another book, Wycliffe could 
have said of the Bible : 

*' The book is in my heart ; 

It lives in me, wakes in me, and dreams in me ; 
My daily bread tastes of it." 

Notice how far he was in advance of many of his 
age, and also many of our day, in his views of many 
religious subjects. Firmly, steadily, and with strong 
arguments he pleaded for the separation of Church and 
State. He pointed to the evils that grew out of their 
union. He saw the clergy ruling with a rod of iron, 
and the laity rendering a blind submission. This he 
also opposed, denying that it was the place of the 
clergy to make laws to govern the church, saying that 
the duty of the priest was simply that of the minister 
of the word of God. In his views on this subject, five 
hundred years ago, he was in advance of many of the 
churches of our day, as he was also in his teaching on 
the subject of conversion. The word was to be 
preached because it was the power **to produce the 
children of God." He attacked the Roman doctrine 
of transubstantiation, asking the question, Who can 
limit the power of him who can make his Maker? 



Il6 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

* * May the thing made turn again, and make Him that 
made it?" he asks. But while opposing the errors of 
Rome, he did not go to the other extreme, as many 
have done, and make the impression that the Lord's 
Supper was a useless form. In short, I do not think of 
any great principle for which Luther fought and Calvin 
argued, that Wycliffe did not contend for more than a 
hundred and fifty years before. 

HIS UNTIRING INDUSTRY. 

Burke said that "he had an incredible industry, and 
a general thirst for knowledge." Only a glance at 
what he accomplished will convince any one that he 
worked almost without rest. In addition to the help 
he gave in the most important affairs of government, 
the able defenses he made when brought before coun- 
cils to answer the charge of heresy, his labors as 
teacher in the University at Oxford, the thousands of 
tracts that he wrote and circulated, we have still more 
than nine hundred of his written sermons, more or less 
complete, as an evidence of his industry. But more 
than all this was his great work of translating and cir- 
culating the Bible, a work which he did almost entirely 
alone. There was no printing-press then, to help 
circulate it when it was translated. Each copy had to 
be written by hand. 

HIS BLAMELESS LIFE. 

In studying the lives of great men, we are often 
saddened by their faults, and sometimes shocked by i 
their sins. We say, Alas ! " the best of men are men 
at best." But we feel, in studying the life of Wycliffe, 
that his greatness was the greatness of goodness, his 



JOHN WYCLIFFE. 11/ 

enemies being the judges. For almost all we know of 
him is what his enemies, and not his friends, have said. 
Walden, in a letter to Pope Martin V., admits that he 
had often ' ' stood amazed beyond expression at the 
excellence of his learning, the boldness of his asser- 
tions, the exactness of his authorities, and the strength 
of his arguments." Knyghton, another bitter enemy, 
says: "As a theologian, he was the most eminent of 
his time ; in philosophy, second to none ; no man ex- 
celled him in the strength and number of his arguments, 
and he excelled all men in the irresistible power of his 
eloquence." The worst thing that they could say 
about him was, that he was afflicted with * * a detestable 
insanity." 

May not his pure life account very largely for his 
clear perceptions of truth ? **To really know a thing, " 
says Carlyle, * ' a man must first love the thing — sympa- 
thize with it; that is, be virtuously related to it." Love 
and sympathy are the first things necessary to the 
understanding of a person or thing. But love and 
sympathy can not exist in any high degree where there 
is not integrity and purity. He that doeth the will of 
God shall know of the doctrine. It was WycUfie's 
purity that gave him strength and influence. 

" His strength was as the strength of ten, 
Because his heart was pure." 

He Spoke as one having authority. It was not the 
authority of wealth, or of a large church, or of the 
Government ; but the authority of a pure life. By his 
blameless life he enforced his teaching. His pure life 
was like a wall of fire around him. "Blessed are the 
pure in heart, for they shall see God." 



Il8 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

I know this little sketch of this noble man is very- 
imperfect. If, as has been said, there lies in the com- 
monest face more than Raphael will take away, how 
much must there be in the face of Wycliffe? He was 
at last driven from the University ; even John of Gaunt 
fell from his side ; but he did not stop his work. Re- 
tiring to Lutterworth, he continued to preach the word, 
and there he finished his translation of the Bible. The 
yell of rage that greeted that work showed what a deep 
wound he had given the church of Rome. Had he 
lived much longer, the martyrdom that he had often 
spoken of and long expected would have surely come. 
But one day, not long after his translation was finished, 
while preaching, he fell in the pulpit, and shortly after- 
ward died. Like Moses, he gave up his life and work 
together. The workman died, but the work went on. 
Taken all in all, he is one of the grandest characters 
England ever produced, and the beauty and the 
strength and the purity of his character were the result 
of a diligent study of, and a faithful effort to obey, the 
word of God. And if we reverence and use that Book 
as he did, will it not do for each one of us what it did 
for him ? I believe it will. 



GUTENBERG AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. II9 



LECTURE II. 

GUTENBERG AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. 

About the middle of the fifteenth century the night 
of the Dark Ages passed away, and the sun of a new age 
rose upon Europe. The sun which dispelled that 
dreadful night of darkness, ignorance, and superstition, 
was the printing press. A better day was ushered in. 
A glorious epoch began. 

Many things that appeared entirely secular at first, 
have done very much in preparing the way for the 
spread of moral ideas, and the reception of religious 
truth. What could the reformer or religious teacher 
see that was encouraging in the rise and conquests of 
the Roman Empire? Yet, in uniting under one gov- 
ernment all the nations of the earth, and in building 
those wonderful roads that extended from the city of 
Rome to the uttermost parts of the empire, thus mak- 
ing it possible to travel in all directions with safety and 
rapidity, she was doing more to prepare the world for 
the reception of Christ, and to make it possible to 
carry the gospel to all nations in a short time, than all 
prophets and priests had done. Who would have 
thought, in 1840, when no insurance company in Eng- 
land would insure a teetotaler, that in 1882 all insurance 
companies would be searching for teetotalers, and that 
one of the strongest and most telling arguments in 
favor of total abstinence would be drawn from the 
statistics of insurance companies? Yet this is the/Ja:^/. 



I20 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

So the invention of printing, that Pope Alexander 
VI., the Archbishop of Mentz, and many others, op- 
posed so bitterly, believing it would injure the Church 
and ruin the race, has become the greatest agent in 
spreading truth and carrying the light and life of the 
gospel to the outskirts of creation. 

''The man is little to be envied," says Dr. Johnson, 
** whose patriotism would not gain force on the plains 
of Marathon." And we may add that he is little to be 
envied who would not gain strength and wisdom and 
inspiration, as he studied the life and watched the 
labors and struggles and final victory of Gutenberg. 

Wycliffe had been dead sixteen years when Guten- 
berg was born. But Wycliffe was more truly alive 
than ever, in the men and women throughout Europe 
who were living on his thoughts and carrying on his 
work. Of his numerous disciples, three became quite 
famous in their lives, and immortal in their death. 
There was John Oldcastle, who was born in 1 360, and 
belonged to the nobility of England. He was cele- 
brated for his courage and purity. He was a brave 
soldier, an accomplished knight, a wise counselor, and 
an intelligent, pious Christian. For protecting some 
of the poor disciples of Wycliffe, he aroused the hatred 
of the priests, who charged him with heresy, treason, 
and almost every other sin. But these charges were 
never proved. ''Next to God," said Oldcastle, "I 
profess obedience to my king ; but as to the spiritual 
dominion of the Pope, I can pay him no obedience." 
For expressing such views he was arrested and thrown 
into the Tower, but was rescued by his friends. He 
was again arrested and brought back. Then came his 
trial, during which he positively refused to recant, 



GUTENBERG AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. 121 

always showing a manly courage, with a kind and 
beautiful spirit. When the sentence was passed, he 
said to the judges, with his usual calmness: "With 
me it is a small thing that I should be judged by you." 
The cruel sentence that condemned him to be hanged 
and burned was carried out in 141 /. His hands were 
tied behind him, and he was thrown into a cart and 
dragged to the place of execution ; a slow fire was 
kindled ; soon his suffering was over, and the brave 
man's spirit was with God. 

Shakespeare said truly, In Henry IV., ''Oldcastle 
died a martyr." But the influence of Wycliffe was not 
confined to England ; It was felt In many parts of 
Europe. 

About six hundred miles east of London Is the city 
of Prague, the capital of Bohemia. Some of the writ- 
ings of Wycliffe found their way to the cottage of a 
pious and intelligent widow near this city. To this 
woman there had been born a son in 1367,* who in 
history is known as John Huss. Like Samuel, he was 
dedicated by his mother In infancy to God. The name 
of John Huss makes us think of John the Baptist, 
whom he resembled so much In spirit and work. He 
became Rector of the University of Prague in 1408, at 
which time it is said there were twenty thousand stu- 
dents in attendance. But for preaching with zeal and 
power that the words of Christ were of higher 
authority than those of the Pope, he and his friend 
Jerome — who was also a disciple of Wycliffe, and a 
brave reformer — were arrested, and after a long and 
cruel trial, both were condemned and burned in I4i6.t 



* Gillette says 1373. 

f Huss was burned July 6, 1415 ; Jerome, May 30, 1416. 



122 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

In the early part of this same fifteenth century, there 
was growing up in France that strange and wonderful 
girl who, while still a girl, in the name of God rallied 
the scattered armies of France, and put her own cour- 
age and enthusiasm into them, and finally, at the cost 
of her life, gave victory to her king and peace to her 
country. Now, the story of Oldcastle, in England, of 
Huss and Jerome, at Prague, and Joan of Arc, in 
France, must have reached the ears of Gutenberg when 
quite a young man. 

In 1420 Laurens Janszoon Coster, a thoughtful and 
ingenious old man, kept the cathedral at Haarlem. 
One day, when he was walking through the beech for- 
est just back of the cathedral, he cut some letters on a 
small beech limb, and when he got home, stamped 
them on paper. After thinking and working a good 
deal, he cut some letters on blocks of wood and did 
what was called block-printing. Some have thought 
that Gutenberg got his ideas of the printing-press from 
Coster, but of this there is no proof. 

Gutenberg was born about 1400, at Mentz. Trou- 
bles in that city caused his father to move to Strasburg, 
where shortly afterwards he died, leaving his wife and 
son only a small pension to live on. Almost all we 
know of Gutenberg we learn from the records of the 
courts. By 1437 he had become so absorbed v/ith his 
inventions that he did not wish to marry a girl he was 
engaged to, and she sued him for a breach of promise. 
He compromised the suit by marrying her. In 1439, 
George Dritzenherr sued him for money advanced by 
his brother Andrew to carry on some secret work. 
The testimony of eleven men during this trial estab- 
lished very clearly that Gutenberg was a man of genius, 



GUTENBERG AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. 123 

who stood well in the city, and had a knowledge of 
three arts, namely: polishing stones or gems, making 
mirrors, and a secret art that he refused to reveal. His 
pupils in gem-cutting testified that one day they found 
him working in a secluded room of an old convent, but 
that he refused to tell them what he was doing. Some 
years now pass, during which little is known of him. 
He moved back to Mentz, his native city. There, as 
it has been said, ' ' heaven or hell sent him a partner, 
John Faust." Faust was a far-seeing, shrewd, selfish 
man, who lent Gutenberg some money, taking a mort- 
gage on all his materials. After finding out the secret, 
he foreclosed the mortgage, taking the press, type, and 
the partly printed Bible. 

The first printed book was the Bible. It appeared 
in 1455, and was printed on vellum, and was called the 
Forty-two Line Bible, because there were forty-two lines 
to a page. Faust took his books to Paris, where he 
found a ready sale for them as fast as he could print 
them. But soon his troubles began. By producing 
books so rapidly, and selling them so cheaply, he first 
astonished the people, and then they began to think he 
was in partnership with the devil; for in that day, 
when a man had a good thought, or made a discovery, 
it was instantly supposed that he was in fellowship with 
the devil. No one seems to have dreamed that the 
good God ever put the thought into the man's mind 
and set his brain to working. So Faust v/as arrested, 
and to save his life, had to show how his books were 
made. Thus the secret of printing got out. 

But to go back to Gutenberg, who thought he had 
lost all. He'was not discouraged, and soon got a press 
started and went on working, with little help or sympa- 



124 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

thy from any one, struggling with poverty, and bearing 
his wrongs without complaining. Not a murmur of 
his has fallen on our ears. If he ever uttered a word 
or wrote a line telling of his wrongs, poverty, labors 
and disappointments, it has not reached us. Hard, 
indeed, would it be to find, especially in modern times, 
one who did so much and said so little about it. 

He died poor, childless, and almost friendless, in 
1468, after he had thought out and worked out this 
great invention, and laid the foundation of an art that 
has done more to break the tyrant's power, and spread 
light, intelligence and religion, than all the other arts 
put together. *'Yet no one remembered the poor 
wise man." The printing-press had made it possible 
for all to become acquainted with the best thoughts 
men have ever had, and the highest deeds they have 
ever done. As the poet says of our children : 

*' Each little voice in turn 

Some glorious truth proclaims : 
\Miat -sages -would have died to learn, 
Now taught by cottage dames." 

The best of books can be had for a few cents. But 
it was not always so. Once only the most wealthy 
churches owned a copy of the Bible. Then, on ac- 
count of their great value, they were chained to the 
pulpit. William Caxton, who printed the first Bible in 
England, hoped the day would come when there would 
be a Bible chained in every church. He dared not hope 
that it would ever be in the homes of the people. If a 
man, in that age, gave a copy of the Bible to a church, 
it was thought that that act alone would merit eternal 
salvation. In the middle of the fifteenth century it 
would have taken all the earnings of a laboring man for 



GUTENBERG AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. 125 

fifteen years to have bought the cheapest copy of the 
Bible. There is not a child in our homes or schools, 
who has found help, knowledge, or joy in a good book 
or paper, who is not indebted to Gutenberg. Every 
book is a monument to his memory. 

There is no such storehouse of ideas as the Bible. 
Whenever it has been studied, it has awakened the 
sleeping conscience and set the hands to working. It 
is this book that has suggested to the reformer his 
work, and sustained and stimulated him in his darkest 
hours. It has made men cry out and proclaim the 
truth when they knew that to do so was certain death. 
As Jeremiah said : ** I will not make mention of him, 
nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in 
mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and 
I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.^* 
It was in studying and teaching this book that the ven- 
erable Bede took such delight. It was the great desire 
of King Alfred that every youth in the kingdom should 
read the Bible in his own language. The glory and 
greatness of Wycliffe is that he spent his long life in 
studying, teaching and translating the Bible. It was 
the one desire of Tyndale that the plow-boy should 
have the word of God. I believe, with Lyman Ab- 
bott, * * that from the days of King Josiah to those of 
Luther, every reformation of the church has been 
wrought by the resurrection of the entombed word of 
God." It was this same book that moved Gutenberg 
to invent the printing-press, and the great hope of giv- 
ing the Bible to the world sustained him in all his 
labors. He seems to have thought that in some sense 
his invention was a revelation from God, for in his pref- 
ace to the Bible he says : ** God reveals to babes what 



126 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

he hides from the wise." Who will say that God did 
not put the thought in his mind and help him to work 
it out? And what the Bible has done for others it 
will do for us, if we study it diligently and obey it 
cheerfully. 

'* The testimonies of Thy grace 
I set before mine eyes ; 
TJience I derive my daily strength, 
And there my comfort lies." 



SAVONAROLA. 12/ 



LECTURE III. 



SAVONAROLA, OR THE DAWN OF THE 
REFORMATION. 

When Luther was on his way to the Diet of Worms, 
he was met by a priest who handed him a letter, ex- 
horting him to stand firm and fight bravely for the 
glory of God ; and with the letter he gave him a pic- 
ture, which Luther immediately kissed. This was the 
portrait of Savonarola, an Italian patriot, statesman, 
priest, reformer, and prophet. He came in the spirit 
and with the power of Elijah. He was the John the 
Baptist of the Reformation, of whom Luther said : 
** He was burned by the Pope, but he lives in blessed- 
ness, and Christ has canonized him." We are greatly 
indebted to men who lived in Italy during the fifteenth 
century, for our political freedom, our religious liberty, 
and much that we enjoy most and prize the highest; 
and to no one more than to Savonarola. For, as 
Milman says, he *' conceived, and almost achieved, the 
splendid notion of an equal republic of Christian men 
acting on the highest Christian principles." When 
Charles Lamb was a young man, he used to say, **I 
am always longing to be with men more excellent than 
myself." Hoping that in this respect you are like 
Lamb, I invite you to spend a few minutes with men 
more excellent than ourselves, hoping that there may 
grow up in us a friendship for the good and the great. 

There has seldom been a century that has produced 
so many great men and witnessed so many startling 



128 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

events as the fifteenth. There was that spirit of daring 
investigation into all subjects, that brought about the 
Reformation ; there was a thirst for knowledge and ad- 
vantage, which led men to search in the East for ancient 
treasures, and in the West for new worlds. It was a 
glorious century, and it was a dreadful century. In the 
early part of this century we see the stake, the fagots 
and the flames ; and near its close we see them again. 
To the first stake a sweet girl, whose purity was only 
equaled by her courage, faith and patriotism, is bound ; 
and soon her frail body is enveloped in flames that 
ignorance, bigotry and supersition have kindled, and 
the spirit of Joan of Arc returns to God who gave it. 
To the stake we see at the close of the century, we 
behold them leading a man crippled and enfeebled by 
the most cruel torture, a man vv^ho had lived an in- 
dustrious, blameless and unselfish life: this w^as Savon- 
arola. It was also an age of invention. The printing- 
press began to work in 1454, and a thousand presses 
were working night and day before the century closed. 
In 1477 watches were invented. Wonderful things 
transpired in the East and in the West. On the 29th 
of May, 1453, Constantinople was taken by Moham- 
med the Second. He was a man of strong will, great 
energy, an able general, a great mathematician and en- 
gineer, and a scholar who spoke five different languages. 
The capture of Constantinople and the Avestward march 
of the Turkish army drove great numbers of Greek 
scholars into Europe. In learning, Italy was in ad- 
vance of any country of Europe, and Florence was the 
most cultivated city in Italy. It was to this country 
and city that these scholars flocked. The Greek lan- 
guage began to be studied everywhere, and Europe sud- 



SAVONAROLA. I 29 

denly became acquainted with Greek poets, historians, 
and philosophers. It woke up the intellect of Europe. 
But near the close of the century Europe was astonished 
by a very different discovery. In 1492 a man who had 
worried kings and courts, and who many began to 
think was at the bottom of the ocean, returned with 
the startling announcement that he had found a new 
world. In this wonderful age Savonarola was born and 
grew up. He and Leonardo da Vinci were both born 
in 1452. Savonarola was a year old when Constanti- 
nople was taken, and two years of age when the first 
Bible was printed ; he had reached the age of twenty- 
one when Copernicus was born, and was twenty-three 
at the birth of Michael Angelo. When Savonarola 
was twenty-five, Titian was born, and watches were in- 
vented ; he was thirty-one years older than Luther, the 
Reformer, and Raphael, the most famous of all paint- 
ers, — certainly one of the most lovely characters the 
world has ever seen, of whom it has been said, **Not 
only all men, but the very brutes loved him." Truly, 
there were giants in those days. 

Leonardo da Vinci, according to Draper, was the 
most original thinker, in certain directions, that has ap- 
peared since the days of Archimedes ; and Mrs. Jame- 
son says, * * He was tJie miracle in that age of miracles ; " 
while Hallam thinks that beyond all doubt his was the 
first name of the fifteenth century. Whether these 
estimates of the man are too high or not, one thing is 
true, that he was a great mathematician, architect, 
chemist, engineer, musician, poet and painter; and, if 
his biographers tell the truth, it would be difficult to 
mention anything in which he did not excel. He 
stands out a bold figure in that century. 



130 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Then there was his great rival, Michael Angelo, to 
whom he once said, *'I was famous before you 
were born." How, in a few lines, can any one do 
justice to the character of a man like Michael Angelo, 
upon whom great volumes have been written? One 
who spent years in studying his life and works says he 
was *' unique in painting, unparalleled in sculpture, per- 
fect in architecture, an admirable poet and a divine 
lover." *'To kiss the hem of his garment," says Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, "to catch the slightest of his perfec- 
tions, would be glory and distinction enough for an 
ambitious man." 

The ambitious Pope Julius II. invited Michael 
Angelo to Rome to design for him a splendid mauso- 
leum. The design pleased the pope and all who saw 
It ; but it was soon seen that when it was finished there 
would be no building in Rome worthy to hold it. It 
was suggested to the pope that a new church should be 
built in the place of the old St. Peters. After ponder- 
ing on the subject, the pope resolved that it should be 
built. **What great events," says Punshon, "from 
tiniest causes spring." Michael Angelo designs a 
monument, which requires a better building than ex- 
ists. A new building is begun, but the money gives 
out. Indulgences are to be sold to get money. Tetzel 
goes into Germany to sell them ; Luther's indignation 
is aroused, he puts on the armor and draws the sword. 
So Michael Angelo began the Reformation. There are 
some In our day who think it an evidence of a great 
mind and superior intelligence to sneer at prayer and 
scoff at religion ; who say that faith and humility are 
evidences of womanly weakness, and that hope belongs 
to the age of childish ignorance ; who might learn 



SAVONAROLA. I 3 I 

something to their profit from this mighty man, who 
wrote, as he approached the sunset of Hfe : 

*• Sculpture and painting, rival arts, 
Ye can no longer soothe my breast; 
'Tis Love Divine alone imparts 
The promise of a future rest. 
On that my steadfast soul relies — 
My trust the cross, my hope the skies." 

THE EARLY LIFE OF SAVONAROLA. 

He was born at Ferrara, in 1452. His grandfather 
was a celebrated physician, and the author of numer- 
ous medical works. His father, though a physician 
and something of a scholar, was a spendthrift, and far 
inferior to his grandfather in mental power and moral 
worth. But his mother, like the mothers of most great 
men, was a woman of elevated mind and great force of 
character. Ferrara was a wealthy city, with a popula- 
tion of about 100,000. Savonarola was a timid, quiet, 
serious child. In the midst of the gayety of the city 
he grew up sad. He read the writings of St. Thomas, 
and studied the Bible, and daily offered the prayer, 
"Lord, teach me the way my soul must walk." A 
sermon that he heard when twenty-two years of age, 
fixed once for all his determination to become a monk. 
But his resolution failed every time he caught the eye 
of his mother. The sad and inquiring expression of 
her faced seemed to say that she had guessed what he 
was thinking about. So one morning he slipped away 
from home without saying good-bye to any one, and 
entered the convent of St. Dominico, at Bologna. He 
wrote back to his father, telling him that he had chosen 
poverty for his bride, and had sacrificed his body to 



132 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

save his soul, and that his father must comfort his 
mother, and that they must both send him their bless- 
ing, and he would pray for them. The great wicked- 
ness of the world had compelled him to take this step. 
He had been shocked and saddened by the adulteries, 
robberies and blasphemies that had become so com- 
mon, and, said he, ** There is nothing left but for us to 
weep, and hope for better things yonder." These were 
gloomy views, but there was much in Italy at that time 
to make any one sad who loved God and his fellow 
men. That age beheld the worst popes that ever dis- 
graced the chair of St. Peter. The crimes of Alexander 
VI. are unmentionable, and the chapter that re- 
cords his life is the blackest in Roman history. For 
eight years Savonarola remained in the convent, study- 
ing, fasting, praying, and learning obedience. Out- 
wardly his life was peaceful, but his writings show that 
doubts and sorrows were raging in his soul. His 
purity and worth were recognized by his superiors, 
who sent him to his native city to preach. But here, 
as at several other places he visited, his preaching 
attracted little attention. 

SAVONAROLA GOES TO FLORENCE. 

He is now sent to Florence. He makes the journey 
on foot. As he stood upon the hills and looked down 
upon that beautiful city, what must have been his feel- 
ings ! It was in Florence that Dante, the greatest 
Italian poet, was born, and from which he was ban- 
ished, because it was not worthy of him. The beauty 
and fame of Florence had been greatly increased in the 
early part of the fifteenth century by Cosmo de Medici. 
The city became happy and prosperous under his rule, 



SAVONAROLA. 1 33 

and he encouraged scholars to make it their home. 
Like William of Orange and Washington, the title of 
Father of his Country he worthily won and wore. He 
has been called ** the bright, particular star" in Floren- 
tine history. Not only was he father of his country, 
but of a most remarkable family, several of whom be- 
came popes of Rome. And it was his grandson, 
Lorenzo the Magnificent, who made Florence ' ' a city 
of palaces and her neighborhood a garden of delight." 
When the eyes of Savonarola first gazed upon this 
city, there were one hundred and seventy churches of 
various styles of architecture, and in the center the 
cathedral, a vast *'poem in stone," and the Duomo, of 
which Michael Angelo said: *' I can not make a better 
than you, and I will not make one like you." Lorenzo 
de Medici was at the zenith of his popularity. A 
gayer or more corrupt city did not then exist, unless it 
was Rome. Faith was dead, and virtue had almost 
fled, and even skepticism had no earnestness. The 
soul of Savonarola was stirred within him. But at first 
his preaching attracted little attention. About this 
time he wrote: **I can not move even so much as a 
chicken. I have neither voice, lungs, nor style. ' But 
day by day he studied his Bible, and the fire was 
burning. Men love an earnest person, and each day a 
few more gathered to hear him in the convent garden. 
At last, at the close of a sermon, he asked for the 
prayers of the people, and announced that on the next 
day, August ist, he would preach in the convent of St. 
Mark. The great building was packed to suffocation. 
Now, for the first time, appeared the orator and the 
prophet. His eyes darted fire, his lips quivered with 
emotion. He spoke of the sins and vices of the people 



134 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

of Florence, of the lightning of retribution that would 
strike them if they did not repent ; of forgiveness and 
mercy offered to those who would turn from their sins. 
He said himself that it was a ''terrible sermon." 
'*He smote vice with whips of steel," and denounced 
cheating, lying and licentiousness, and thundered 
against gambling. Even the crimes of Lorenzo and 
the immoralities of the Pope were mentioned, and both 
were exhorted to repent. For days that sermon was 
the theme of conversation in all parts of the city, and 
every one felt that there was a new power in Florence. 
No place could now hold the people, no matter how 
often he preached. On he went, preaching repent- 
ance and prophesying reformation ; insisting that the 
church rnust return to primitive purity in morals and 
doctrine. 



SAVONAROLA. I 35 



LECTURE IV. 

SAVONAROLA. 

"The righteous are bold as a lion " (Solomon). 

<' We ought to obey God rather than men " (Peter). 

"Do you ask me in general what will be the end of the conflict ? 
I answer, Victory. But if you ask me in particular, I answer, Death " 
(Savonarola). 

In continuing the story of Savonarola's life, I shall 
speak first of 

SAVONAROLA AT THE DEATH-BED OF LORENZO THE MAG- 
NIFICENT. 

When the power of Savonarola began to be felt, 
Lorenzo was at the zenith of his popularity, leading a 
brilliant and dissipated life. To-day we see him in a 
church, listening to a sermon; to-morrow he is at a 
masquerade ; now he is alone, composing a religious 
hymn ; but when seen again he is plundering or impov- 
erishing some city or province, and devoting the money 
thus obtained to enrich the art-galleries, and endow 
libraries, and draw authors and artists to Florence. He 
does not hesitate to take the life of any patriot who 
lifts his voice in defense of the liberties of the people. 
He was not a monster, like Nero ; but he and his court 
lived for pleasure and fame ; the idea of duty never 
once crossed their minds, and the voice of conscience 
was not listened to. He did not do anything because 
it was right, or abstain from doing anything because it 



136 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

was wrong. So Lorenzo went on, feared by the peo- 
ple, flattered by the priests and rulers, boasting that no 
one dared to say a resolute '* No " to him. But there 
was one man in Florence that Lorenzo's money could 
not buy, or threats terrify, or power silence. This 
man spent his hours studying his one book, the Bible ; 
and then, possessed with the love of truth, and the 
love of humanity, and the keenest sense of right and 
wrong, went to his pulpit and spoke with warm and 
affectionate earnestness of the sins of the people in 
general, and of the sins of Lorenzo in particular. At 
first Lorenzo treated Savonarola with indifference ; but 
soon he saw many of the leading citizens of Florence, 
as well as the masses, flocking to hear him. So he 
sent five of the leading men of the city to visit the 
great preacher. Savonarola met them and said: "I 
know who sent you. Tell your master to repent of his 
sins, for the Lord has no fear of the princes of the 
earth." They tried to get him to change his style of 
preaching; especially, not to be so severe on gambling. 
**Tell Lorenzo to change his ways," was the reply. 
All sorts of methods were tried. Large sums of 
money were put in the contribution-boxes, which Sav- 
onarola gave to the poor; hints of assassination, if he 
continued this course, reached his ears ; promises of 
promotion, if he would change, were made; Lorenzo 
himself began to attend church, and seemed very much 
interested in the preaching. At last Savonarola gave 
the messengers of Lorenzo to understand that he was 
not afraid of them. "Tell your master," said he, 
"that though I am a humble stranger, and he the city's 
lord, I shall remain and he depart." About this time 
he was speaking to a crowded church, and after show- 



SAVONAROLA. 137 

ing that terrible ruin will come upon all transgressors, he 
startled his audience by predicting the death of the Pope 
of Rome, the King of Naples, and Lorenzo de Medici, 
and the invasion of Italy by a foreign power. In a few 
months these men were all dead, and the king of France 
was thundering at the gates of Florence. Early in 
April, 1492, Lorenzo bade farewell to Florence, and 
retired to his beautiful villa to die. Day by day he 
grew worse. But the fever and bodily pain were noth- 
ing compared to the torture of his soul, caused by the 
memory of his sins. The thoughts of his dishonest 
gains, the murders and robberies he had committed, 
and his licentiousness, almost drove him mad. 
Whether asleep or awake, his sins were before him, 
and, like Banquo's ghost, they would not down. 

A guilty conscience, what a foe ! 
It poisons every bliss below. 

If men will do wrong, let them know that the day 
of reckoning, retribution and judgment will come. 
Though the mills of God grind slowly, still they grind. 
Although the sentence against an evil deed may not be 
immediately executed, it will certainly be executed. 
Fraud, injustice and falsehood may be committed and 
forgotten ; they may wander a long way and do much 
harm ; but they will come home to roost. If men will 
swindle, and lie, and corrupt the ballot-box, and punish 
the innocent, and help the guilty to go free ; if they 
tempt the weak to touch the intoxicating glass, or lead 
the young into dens of gambling and licentiousness, 
the day of fearful reckoning will come. It may come 
as it did to Judas, when suddenly he realized what he 
had done, and preferred death to life. Or it may come 



138 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

like a ghost in some half-waking dream, as it did to 
** false, fleeting, perjured Clarence;" or as it did to 
Arnold, when he said: *'l was just thinking that I 
am the only man in all the world to whom every Amer- 
ican is an enemy." So it came to Lorenzo. He was in 
trouble. He had no faith in the sincerity of his priests. 
His thoughts now turned to Savonarola. ' * I know no 
honest friar but Savonarola, " said the miserable man. 
Savonarola is sent for. He comes. ** There are three 
things that I wish to confess, and for which I want for- 
giveness," said Lorenzo: "the sacking of Volterra; 
the money taken from Fanciulla, which caused so many 
deaths ; and the blood shed after the conspiracy of the 
Pazzi." While confessing these sins he was very much 
agitated, and Savonarola tried to calm him by saying: 
** God is good; God is merciful." As soon as tjie con- 
fession was made, ** There are three things that are 
required of you," said Savonarola. ** First, it is neces- 
sary that you should have a full and lively faith in the 
mercy of God." "That I have," said Lorenzo. 
"Second, you must restore all ill-gotten gains." The 
dying man hesitated for a moment, and then said he 
would do that also. Savonarola then arose, and fixing 
his blazing eyes on the unhappy prince, solemnly cried : 
"Thirdly, you must restore the liberty of Florence." 
Lorenzo turned his face to the wall, but made no re- 
ply ; and Savonarola, after waiting a few minutes, left 
the room, and in a few moments Lorenzo was dead. 
Piero de Medici, the son of Lorenzo, now ruled Flor- 
ence. He inherited his father's weaknesses, but not 
his strength. He possessed all his vices, but none of 
his virtues. Savonarola's influence was daily increas- 
ing. He started the strictest reforms among the 



SAVONAROLA. 1 39 

priests, and turned many of the most gifted and culti- 
vated people of Florence from lives of selfish pleasure 
to self-denial and righteousness. 

SAVONAROLA AS PATRIOT AND STATESMAN. 

Florence, where things were going from bad to 
worse every day, was suddenly thrown into confusion 
by hearing of the approach of Charles VIII., at the 
head of the French army. Piero de Medici fled from 
the city. It seemed as if nothing could save the city 
from a bloody revolution. The friends of the Medici 
wanted a king; the people demanded a republic. A 
few words from Savonarola quieted the excited mob. 
An embassy of the leading citizens was sent to meet 
Charles. He paid but little attention to any of them 
except Savonarola, of whom he had heard and for 
whom he had great respect. The French king came 
to Florence, but his stay was short ; and when he de- 
parted the great bell was tolled, and the people 
assembled to devise some form of government. "It 
is time," said one, **to have done with this baby gov- 
ernment " (referring to the rule of the Medici). But 
the question was, Who shall lead in this affair ? The 
thoughts of the people turned to the Convent of St. 
Mark, where Savonarola was then preaching. They 
sent for him. He came. He began by saying: 
* * True liberty — that which alone is liberty — consists in 
a determination to lead a good life. What sort of a 
liberty can that be which subjects us to the tyrrany 
of our passions ? To come to the purpose of this 
address : Do you Florentines wish for liberty ? Do you 
citizens wish to be free ? Then, above all things, love 
God and your neighbor. When you have this love 



140 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

and this unison among you, then you will have Hb- 
erty." A new constitution was soon formed, and a 
new government established. All sorts of reforms 
were initiated. Peace and prosperity again returned 
to the city. The Jews, the only money-lenders, 
were charging 32^ per cent, interest. Savonarola 
established banks that loaned money at six per cent. , 
requiring the borrower to take oath that he would not 
gamble with the money. The tax-system for raising 
the city revenue which he established is the one now in 
use in Florence. He brought back the banished de- 
scendants of the poet Dante to the city. The laws and 
public documents of that period read almost like the 
sermons of Savonarola. ''The Ship of State," says 
Clark, *'at once felt the grasp of a man, and slowly 
began to move forward, all its sails beginning to fill and 
draw." 

SAVONAROLA AS PREACHER AND REFORMER. 

He was not a Protestant, in the sense that Luther 
and Calvin were Protestants. He was a devout Cath- 
olic, who did not question the authority of the Pope, but 
his morals. It was not against the doctrines of Rome, 
but the vices of priests and people, that he protested. 
His sermons on liberty and righteousness were delivered 
with great power. Men felt that a man stood before 
them. They knew that he feared God, and feared 
none besides ; that he loved all men, and feared none. 
Houses, schools and shops were closed when he 
preached. At the hour of noon workmen were seen 
reading the Bible. He organized the children for work, 
and sent them through the city to collect bad books 
and immoral pictures, and these were taken to the pub- 



SAVONAROLA. I4I 

lie square and burned. But still more wonderful : mer- 
chants and bankers sent back money which they had 
obtained by unlawful means. In some cases several 
thousand florins were returned by one person. 

THE DEATH OF SAVONAROLA. 

Permanent reforms are of slow growth, and when 
brought about rapidly there is sure to be a reaction. 
He who is the popular man to-day, may be the most 
unpopular to-morrow. The mob that stoned Paul at 
Lystra, and drew him out of the city, thinking he was 
dead, was composed of the same people who, a few 
days before, had wanted to sacrifice to him as a god. 
They who spread their garments in the way and cry 
Hosanna to-day, to-morrow may be among those who 
cry, Crucify him. Even the very persons who have 
been the most helped by the reformer or the philan- 
thropist, have often been the first to find fault with and 
turn against him. When, after years of toil, Dr. 
Guthrie had succeeded in establishing a system of 
water-works in Edinburg, thus furnishing the people 
with pure water and improving the health of the city, 
a woman was heard to say that ' * the water was not as 
good as it used to be ; it neither tastes nor smells.'^ 

Besides this, an 'earnest person who proposes re- 
forms, and is determined to carry them out, will always 
make bitter and enduring enemies. As in an ancient 
city that was saved by a poor, wise man, there was no 
one who remembered this same wise man ; so the peo- 
ple of Florence soon forgot Savonarola. The Medici 
family, with the politicians, were plotting against him. 
A sermon of his reaches the Pope, and the mighty 
power of Rome is now at work to ruin him. At first, 



142 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

the Pope tried to buy him, by promising to make him 
Cardinal. But the Pope did not understand the man. 
** I will have no hat but that of a martyr's, red with my 
own blood," were the words of Savonarola. Then the 
Pope issued his bull against the great preacher. It was 
read in the church, and then all the lights were put 
out, to show the darkness that Savonarola was in. 
True, somebody was in darkness ; but it was not Savon- 
arola. At last came the order from Rome that he 
must die, ''were he even another John the Baptist." 
He was arrested and put to torture. It is a dreadful 
story. Everything was tried that would cause pain 
without taking life. On this went, through the dark 
days of Lent and the ''triumphant gladness of Easter." 
His courage never failed. His body quivered with 
pain, but his determination was undaunted. They cov- 
ered his feet with live coals ; but his soul never flinched. 
On May 23, 1498, he was condemned to be burned. 
When the Bishop took the priestly robes from the con- 
demned man, he said: "I separate you from the 
Church militant and the Church triumphant." ^' Not 
from the Church triumphant,'' said Savonarola, with firm 
voice; '^tJiat is beyond thy power.'' The fire was 
kindled, and soon his sufferings were over. Thus lived 
and died this man of faith and prayer. In a city of 
wealth and luxury he lived a life of self-denial. In an 
age of excesses and immorality, he was pure in heart 
and pure in life. One of his devotional books passed 
through thirteen editions after his death, and was re- 
published by Luther in Germany. When the fire had 
done its work, Savonarola was not dead. You can kill 
a body, but not a thought. Fire can not burn up an 
idea. Did he not 



SAVONAROLA. 143 

Join the choir invisible 

Of those immortal dead, who live again 

In minds made better by their presence ; live 

In pulses stirred to generosity, 

In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn 

Of miserable aims that end with self, 

In thoughts that pierce the night like stars, 

And with their mild persistence urge men's minds 

To vaster issues ? 



144 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE V. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTIN LUTHER. 

** In every work that he began in the service of the house of God, 
and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it 
with all his heart and prospered" (II. Chron. xxx. 21). 

We come now to study men and events that belong 
chiefly to the early part of the sixteenth century. In 
those days men were following the compass over the 
ocean in search of new worlds ; they were looking into 
the sky for new stars, and into the Bible for new truth. 
But the one event for which this century is most 
distinguished, is the Reformation. The central figure 
in the galaxy of great men of the sixteenth century is 
Martin Luther. It will always be known as the cen- 
tury of Luther and the Reformation. Luther was the 
planet; others were his satellites. When we remem- 
ber how he went out, like David, against the Goliath of 
Rome — a giant that had been growing in size, strength 
and insolence for centuries ; a giant that had crushed 
Wycliffe and scattered his disciples, burned Oldcastle 
in England, Joan of Arc in France, Huss and Jerome 
at Prague, and Savonarola in Italy; when we think 
that he came into deadly conflict with a church to 
which all the crowned heads of Europe belonged, a 
church that controlled the wealth and armies of the 
world, in whose employ were the philosophers, artists, 
poets, and men of letters of Europe ; and yet that in 
that struggle this man Luther was more than a match 
for popes, priests, kings and emperors, wealth and num- 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 45 

bers: we can hardly exaggerate his strength and cour- 
age, or too much admire his character. For, although 
not the first man who thought of reformation and de- 
sired to bring it about, he was the first who made 
up his mind that it could be done, and showed the 
world how to do it, and did it. We have frequently 
been told that he could have done nothing unless 
the fortunate hour had come. True: but remember, 
the hour would have passed if the man had not ap- 
peared. What Grattan said of Fox is more true of 
Luther: *' You are to measure the magnitude of such 
a mind by the parallels of latitude." He does not be- 
long to the sixteenth century alone, but to all cen- 
turies ; not to Germany only, but to all the world. 
The dying words of Huss,when at the stake the flames 
were devouring him, seem to have been deeply pro- 
phetic; and when Luther was preaching and singing 
through Germany a hundred years later, it might have 
been written, "Then was fulfilled that which was 
spoken by the prophet Huss: *You are now roast- 
ing a goose [Huss means goose], but in a hundred years 
you will raise up a swan, whom you shall not roast nor 
scorch ; him men will hear sing ; him, God willing, 
they willlet live.'" 

Luther was born at Eisleben, Saxony, m 1483, and 
died at the same place in 1546. The great painter, 
Raphael, was born the same year. It was thirty 
years after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. 
The printing-press had been working for twenty-nine 
years, and men of wealth had been carrying watches 
for seven years. Copernicus was a boy ten years of 
age when Luther was born. Michael Angelo was 
eight, and Titian was six. He was a few years older 



146 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

than Henry VIII., of England, and Francis L, of 
France. He was eight years old when Loyola, the 
founder of the Jesuits, was born; and nine years of 
age when Columbus returned and announced his 
wonderful discovery. Charles V., of Germany, was 
seventeen years younger than Luther. When John 
Calvin was born, Luther had reached the age of 
twenty-six. 

Europe at this time had thrown off the torpor of 
the Middle Ages ; in the study of the Greek language 
the human mind seemed to expand. It created a taste 
for the beautiful, and produced in large numbers men 
who excelled in art ; it raised deep thinkers, and men 
who could appreciate their thoughts. There also came 
forth a class of adventurers and great discoverers, who 
traveled unknown oceans and found new Islands and 
continents. In Italy artists appeared who have never 
been surpassed ; men who were in search of the beauti- 
ful in form, color and expression. Hence, Italy was 
full of poets, painters, and sculptors. At the same 
time in Spain and Portugal there were young men who 
had a longing for the sea; who read in a ship ap- 
proaching the shore from a distance, in a piece of wood 
washed to the land, in the shadow of the earth on the 
moon, lessons that most men did not see. These 
young men saw, by the eye of faith, lands beyond the 
ocean. Looking out on that boundless sea of water, 
they began to doubt the old proverb, Ne plus ultra — 
nothing beyond. They began to think, and then began 
to say. Plus ultra — more beyond. God, who once 
sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for His Son 
and His kingdom, had some years before the time 
of which we are writing, sent a man to prepare the 



MARTIN LUTHER. 147 

way for these discoverers, by inventing the *' mariner's 
compass." 

Sailors were beginning to have confidence in this 
instrument, and were not afraid to go out of sight of 
land. There were three young men at this time, of 
great courage, wisdom and enthusiasm, whose thoughts 
went out beyond the limits of positive knowledge. 
First, about the courts of Lisbon, there was a young 
enthusiast, who for eighteen years had been begging 
for ships and men. He had appealed to Italy, his own 
country, then to Spain and England. He was a serious 
young man, and not a stranger to hardships and 
trouble. At thirty his hair was white, and yet his eye 
kindled when he spoke of the discoveries he hoped 
to make. His father was a poor wool-comber, and his 
name was Christopher Columbus. Since 1492, no one 
has ever stood at the ''Pillars of Hercules" and said, 
Ne plus ultra. 

Several years after Columbus had told the story 
of what he had found and seen in the direction of the 
setting sun, Vasco da Gama returned with news from 
the distant South and far East. He had sailed down 
the western coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good 
Hope, and established communication between Europe 
and India. 

In 15 19, Magellan, who had been watching the 
shadow of the earth upon the moon, sailed from Spain, 
with the firm conviction that he could sail around 
the world. The story of that voyage — of the seventy 
days they were in the calm ; of the storms that burst 
upon them ; of the days they were without water and 
food ; of the fear that seized them when they got so 
far south that they lost sight of the north star ; of the 



148 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

four months that passed, during which they saw no 
land ; of the death of the brave old commander ; of two 
of the ships and a handful of men, who, after more 
than three years of suffering, reached home again : all 
this, I say, if told in full, would make a large book 
itself But we can not dwell upon it now. 

Turning from Italy and Spain to the North, we find 
that men were not asleep in Germany, and their brains 
were not idle. They were thinking in a different direc- 
tion — the problems of philosophy and religion oc- 
cupied their minds. Where is the beautiful ? asked the 
Italian. Where the new sail? the Spaniard. Where is 
duty, and what is right in morals and true in religion ? 
said the German. 

The blameless life and the devotional writings of 
Thomas a Kempis had made a deep impression on the 
hearts and lives of men in Northern and Eastern 
Europe. His *' Imitation of Christ," has been trans- 
lated into all the languages of the civilized world. In 
France alone over five hundred editions have been 
issued, and every day it is now read by thousands. No 
one can tell how many this one little book has taught 
to pray, and helped to be pious and pure. 

In 1455, Reuchlin Avas born; and though he wrote 
many works of merit, he is chiefly remembered as the 
author of the first Hebrew grammar. For publishing 
this book he was persecuted by stupid and ignorant 
priests, who were not worthy to touch the hem of his 
garment. Then came Erasmus, born 1466 or 1467, the 
most finished scholar and accomplished gentleman of 
his age, who, whatever may be said for or against him, 
served his generation by publishing the first Greek 
grammar. 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 49 

THE CHILDHOOD OF LUTHER. 

The tenth of November, 1483, was the birthday of 
Luther. There is much in the story of his boyhood to 
encourage mothers who are trying to make their chil- 
dren pure and brave, and to stimulate and help young 
men who are determined to do something. Like the 
majority of those who have done the best work, he 
came from the humbler walks of life. Abraham, the 
father of the Jewish race and of the faithful ; Moses, 
the lawgiver; and David, the sweet singer, were all 
shepherds ; the apostles, who, when Christ shall come 
again, will sit on twelve thrones, were once fishermen, 
tax-collectors or tent-makers ; Zwingle, the Swiss re- 
former, came from the hut of a poor shepherd ; Me- 
lancthon, Luther's most faithful friend, from a work- 
shop ; and Luther himself from a poor miner's cottage. 
But they did not come from that thriftless poverty that 
is too lazy to work and not ashamed to beg. Luther's 
parents were poor, but they were industrious, pious 
and pure. His father, by industry and economy, saved 
enough to get an interest in a mine. His mother was 
no ordinary woman; she was looked upon by her 
neighbors as a model that all should imitate. Few 
men have had a higher appreciation of woman than 
Luther. "Nothing on earth," says he, **is so sweet 
and consoling as the love of a woman." And again: 
**The utmost blessing that can be conferred on a man 
is the possession of a good and pious wife." Speaking 
of a man who was associating with lewd women, he 
said: ** He ought to know that he shows an utter con- 
tempt for the whole female sex in what he does." 
There were many reasons why Luther had so high 



150 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

a regard for women. There was, first, his own wise 
and pious mother, who had made the word "mother" 
the queen of names ; and then when he went to school 
and came under unjust and cruel teachers, by one of 
whom he was flogged fifteen times in one day (so 
tyrannical were the teachers that he always spoke of 
the German schools as purgatories) ; he had to beg 
bread from house to house, and had such a hard time 
that he was about to leave school in utter discourage- 
ment, when a kind-hearted woman, Ursula Cotta, took 
compassion on the child and opened her heart and 
house to him. Little did she think that she was giving 
a home to a great Reformer. O, what immortality 
there is in a kind deed ; for wherever the fame of 
Luther has gone, what this woman did has been told as 
a memorial of her. Luther never forgot her. When 
an old man, some one mentioned her name in his pres- 
ence, and he said: "There is nothing sweeter on earth 
than the heart of a woman in which piety dwells." 
There are a few lessons suggested by these facts that 
may be worth mentioning. When kings were being 
crowned, armies marching, popes scheming, and all 
the world was watching these men and events, suppos- 
ing that they controlled the destiny of the future, there 
was a thoughtful boy in a German school who was to 
stand at the head of a new age. Henry VIIL, Charles 
V. and Leo X. are chiefly remembered because they 
lived in the age that produced Luther and the Re- 
formation. Who knows but at this very time there 
may be growing up in some obscure home a reformer 
who shall do for his age what Luther did in his ; a true 
man who shall be remembered by grateful millions 
when Gladstone, Bismarck and President Arthur and 



MARTIN LUTHER. I5I 

his Cabinet are forgotten ? Young men, there are ques- 
tions as important to be settled now, and foes as deadly 
and dangerous to be met to-day, as there were in the days 
of Luther. Are you fitting yourselves ior your work? 

Remember, also, that the world moves onward and 
upward ; the shades of night are passing. You and I 
may stand idly by, or oppose and protest — but the 
work of God goes on. The social and religious forces 
move on in mighty majesty, and our opposition will not 
impede them. Let those who oppose reforms know 
that the forces of the universe are against them, and 
will carry the banner of the true reformer on to certain 
victory: for the kingdoms of this world shall become 
the kingdoms of God and of His Christ. 

Again : do not be unfriendly to the young who are 
thinking out in new directions or searching for new 
truth. Has all the truth been discovered? Do we 
understand, and have we obeyed all that there is in 
God's Book? May we not still pray, with a firm con- 
viction that the prayer will be answered, ''Open thou 
my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of 
thy law"? May there not yet come forth those who 
shall teach us the way of the Lord more perfectly? 

God may not have endowed you or me with 
creative power, but He may have given us appreciative 
power, to recognize and encourage those who are 
working alone in some new field without help or sym- 
pathy. If there had not been the kind heart of Ursula 
Cotta, are we sure there would ever have been the 
great life of Martin Luther? In the sight of God, 
which is the greater, I do not know. Perhaps when 
the final reward shall be given, each life will shine with 
equal beauty. 



152 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE VI. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTIN LUTHER. 

"Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good" (II. 
Chron. xix. 11). 

' ' The conscience of every man recognizes courage as the founda- 
tion of manliness, and manliness as the perfection of human character " 
(Hughes). 

*'Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (Jesus), 
" God'lifts to-day the veil, and shows 
The features of a demon" (Whittier). 

In looking at the corruption of the Church of Rome 
in the early part of the sixteenth century, we are in 
danger of thinking that she was always thus — a den of 
iniquity. But to thus think would be to think wrong. 
She was once a grand and beneficent institution. Her 
leaders were wise, just, pure, self-denying men. She 
was at the same time the school-house, court of justice, 
the bank, the newspaper, a home for the poor, and an 
asylum for the oppressed. She was the great teacher 
of benevolence, and the only charitable institution in 
all Europe. She put her hand on the warlike nations 
of Europe, and tamed them, and taught them that 
there was a day coming when the man who had been 
brave and pure and honest should shine as the sun ; 
but the one who had been selfish, and moved a land- 
mark, should be sent into the darkness of eternal 
night. 

The high places in the government were open only 
to persons of certain families. But the Church said. 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 53 

Every place of honor that I have is open to the poor- 
est boy of any class who has the strength, industry, 
courage and purity to win it. When kings were occu- 
pied entirely in seeking pleasure and fighting battles, 
the Church took notice of the moral conduct of men 
and women. 

The Church court was everywhere ; and If a man 
used false weights, sold adulterated food, or was un- 
kind to his wife, the eye of the priest was on him, and 
he was called to account. If a good man died who 
had been remarkable for his purity and unselfishness, 
they built a monastery. Here men who had been 
wronged, and women who had fallen, who determined 
to live henceforth for God and their brothers and sis- 
ters, found a home. They took the vow of poverty, 
so as not to be entangled with the affairs of this world. 
In the dark hours of the night, when others were 
asleep, they were lifting up their hands and voices in 
prayer for those everywhere who were fighting the 
devil. In these monasteries the fallen woman was re- 
ceived as a sister and given a chance to reform; the 
orphan found a home, and the poor traveler a free 
hotel. Princes bowed down to the Church because she 
was worthy. Her strength at first was the strength of 
goodness, her power the power of purity. But wealth 
and power bring temptations that few are able to resist. 
Thus for a long time the Church had been growing 
worse and worse, until what had once been like the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land, had become a 
den of iniquity, filth and uncleanness. For more than 
a hundred years before Luther stood before the Diet of 
Worms, she had been on the wrong side of almost 
every question. She opposed learning, sided with 



154 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

tyrants against the people, and locked up the Bible. 
She stood with a drawn sword in the way of liberty. 
She who once had been the only friend of the poor, 
now had become their oppressor. Once the Church 
had been the hope of the good and the terror of the 
bad; now she encouraged superstition and protected 
the worst men. Whatever a man's life had been, if he 
confessed his sins to the priest, and paid a good sum, 
he was promised full pardon. One German bishop said 
that eleven hundred priests had been guilty of adultery 
in one diocese. It was a sin to eat meat on certain 
days ; yet, if a man had money to pay, he could get a 
dispensation to eat meat and do many other unlawful 
things. In the preaching of that day, men were no 
longer reminded of the eternal laws of God that they 
were bound to obey ; but whether an angel could pass 
from one end of heaven to the other without passing 
through the middle, and other equally foolish subjects, 
were frequently discussed. The sin against the Holy 
Ghost was called *' displeasing the breath of the Heav- 
enly Zephyr." Luther heard a priest at Rome say, 
after pretending to have changed the loaf into the real 
body of Christ, ''Bread it is, and bread it will remain." 

LUTHER AT THE UNIVERSITY. 

In the year 1501, a lad eighteen years of age asked 
for admission into the University of Erfurt. He was 
obedient, industrious, serious, and often sad. His 
fellow-students liked him, and would often gather 
around him to hear him sing. He made rapid progress 
in all his studies, especially Latin and philosophy, and 
graduated in 1505. His name was Martin Luther. It 
was the wish of his father that he should study law ; 



MARTIN LUTHER. 155 

but the death of one of his friends in a duel, a narrow 
escape from being struck by lightning, and a severe 
spell of sickness, during which he went almost to the 
gates of the grave, impressed him with the vanity of 
the things of the world. He saw how the best things 
of the earth might be swept away in a moment ; that 
life hung on a thread. Deeply impressed with the 
thought that he must serve God, get rid of his sins, 
and help others to get to heaven, he entered the con- 
vent in 1505. As a monk, he was humble and 
obedient ; acted as a porter ; studied hard, and won 
the respect and love of all who knew him. The 
thought of his sins troubled him more and more, and 
gloomy doubts arose In his mind. Among the books 
in the University his eyes had fallen on, was an old 
Bible. He opened it and read with delight the story 
of Samuel and his mother. He had never seen a Bible 
before. '' O God ! " he exclaimed, ** could I have one 
of these books, I would ask for no other earthly treas- 
ure. " In that old Bible the Reformation lay hid. 
From that book he drew his inspirations and argu- 
ments ; it was the fountain of his faith and courage. 
Like David, he could have said: **I have more un- 
derstanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies 
are my meditation.'' Notice a few of his sayings: 
** There is but one person, and that is Christ ; and there 
is but one book, and that is the Bible." Again: 
** Jesus Christ is alone the beginning, the middle, and 
the end of my thoughts." "I recognize no other 
guide but the Bible, the word of God." **0 my 
precious, precious Holy Scriptures." Faithfully did 
he study the book, and heroically did he follow its 
teachings and proclaim its truths. 



156 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

In 1502 Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, founded 
the University at Wittenberg. This man is known in 
history as "Frederic the Wise," and has been called 
**the Protector of the Reformation." What John of 
Gaunt was to Wycliffe, Frederic was to Luther. He 
appointed Luther professor in the University. Luther 
began lecturing on the Psalms, and then took up the 
Epistles. The lectures were fresh and instructive, and 
delivered with a great deal of warmth. Students 
flocked to hear him ; he stimulated and instructed them 
at the same time. Though he complained of some 
things that were taught, and of the conduct of some of 
the monks, he had no thought of coming in conflict 
with the Church of Rome. 

LUTHER IS SENT TO ROME 1 5 ID. 

A number of the convents were Involved In a quar- 
rel, and Luther was chosen to go to Rome and 
represent the matter. All parties had confidence in 
his ability and fidelity. As the pious Jews In captivity 
thought and felt about Jerusalem when they said, "If 
I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget 
her cunning ; if I do not remember thee, let my tongue 
cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusa- 
lem above my chief joy; " so thought Luther of Rome. 
He believed It was the true sanctuary of God, w^here he 
should be taught the way of God more perfectly, and 
find rest to his soul. He hardly felt worthy to enter 
the Holy City. But what was the real Rome and her 
popes ? There seventy shameful crimes had been 
proven against John XXII. ; Innocent VIII. had six- 
teen sons and daughters. Comment Is unnecessary. 
There also was that chief of sinners, Alexander VI., of 



MARTIN LUTHER. I $7 

whom Macaulay says, **Each act of his Hfe reflected 
fresh infamy on every other; " and when he died, the 
people crowned the door of his physician's house with 
flowers, and called him the savior of his country for 
letting such a monster die. Leo X., the pope with 
whom Luther had most to do, was the son of Lorenzo 
de Medici. Lorenzo said of his three sons: '*The 
first is good, the second is a fool, and the third is pru- 
dent." The third was Leo X. He lived chiefly for 
pleasure and display, and when he died the people 
followed the coflin, saying: **You sneaked in like a 
fox, you ruled like a lion, and you have gone off like a 
dog." 

A knight who returned from Rome about this time 
said: ** There are three things which we commonly 
bring from Rome : a bad conscience, a sick stomach, 
and an empty purse. There are three things which 
Rome does not believe: the immortality of the soul, 
the resurrection of the dead, and hell. There are three 
things which Rome trades in : the grace of Christ, the 
dignity of the Church, and women." At the same 
time children were singing about the streets of Rome : 

Of all foul spots the world around, 
The foulest spot in Rome is found. 

It was into this city that the pure and earnest young 
monk came. Day by day he was shocked by what he 
saw. He first began to doubt, and then to detest the 
Church. And at last he felt called upon to put on the 
whole armor of God, draw the sword, and go forth to 
battle. 



158 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE VII. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTIN LUTHER. 

With Luther's return from Rome began one of the 
greatest conflicts ever witnessed. He hesitated some 
time before he began, and it was only by degrees that 
he came to hate and oppose almost everything that 
Rome believed and did. The straw that broke the 
camel's back, the spark that kindled a fire that spread 
throughout a large part of Europe, was the sale of in- 
dulgences by Tetzel. Money was needed to build St. 
Peter's at Rome, and Tetzel was sent into Germany to 
raise money by the sale of indulgences. He was a 
man for whom the Germans had a great dislike. At 
last Luther could stand it no longer, and on the thirty- 
first of October, 15 17, he nailed ninety-five theses on 
the door of the church, and **by that action made an 
epoch in history and the commencement of a new era 
for man. '* Europe was startled as if by a clap of thun- 
der from a clear sky. His daring deed was the subject 
of conversation everywhere. The press circulated his 
writings far and wide. He preached with great power. 
From foes and friends the proofs of his eloquence are 
as clear as any we have of the eloquence of Demos- 
thenes or Cicero. His words, that were " half-battles," 
came from the heart, and his hearers knew that there 
was a man behind them. The Pope summoned Luther 
to appear at Rome. But through the influence of the 
Elector, the Pope agreed that a Diet should be held in 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 59 

Germany, and that Luther should appear before it. 
This was the famous Diet of Worms. Charles V., 
now Emperor of Germany, summoned Luther to ap- 
pear before this great council and answer the charges 
against him. Charles sent him a safe-conduct, but his 
friends begged him not to go, for they remembered 
that Jerome and Huss, a hundred years before, had 
each received a safe-conduct, and that it did not keep 
them from the stake. Luther understood the spirit 
and the strength of Rome, and the danger he would be 
in ; but he determined to go. He writes to Melanch- 
thon, on starting: **My dear brother, if I don't 
return, and my enemies put me to death, continue to 
teach and stand fast in the truth." Early in April, 
1 52 1, he started for Worms. Never did a man start on 
a more perilous journey. But the spirit of a soldier 
dwelt in his heart. Believing that there was power in 
a song to calm the troubled soul and put the devil to 
flight, he sang and composed hymns as he journeyed. 
It was on his way to Worms that he composed what is 
known as /'Luther's Psalm." It was a thrilling war- 
song, that aroused the knights and nobles, as well as 
the people, of Germany. He had been studying Psalm 
xlvi. He saw the foes and the danger before him ; 
then he remembered that his God was a refuge and 
strength, and the only help that he needed in trouble. 
There are several translations of this Psalm into Eng- 
lish. I give Carlyle's, which, though not as smooth as 
some, has doubtless the merit of a literal translation : 

A safe stronghold our God is still, 

A trusty shield and weapon : 
He '11 help us clear from all the ill 

That hath us now o'ertaken. 



l60 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

The ancient prince of hell 
Hath ris'n with piirpose fell ; 
Strong mail of craft and power 
He weareth in this hour, 

On earth is not his fellow. 

With force of arms we nothing can, 

Full soon were we down-ridden ; 
But for us fights the proper ]\Ian, 

\\*hom God himself hath bidden. 
Ask ye who is this same ? 
Christ Jesus is his name. 
The Lord Zebaoth's Son, 
He, and no other one, 

Shall conquer in the battle. 

And were the world all devils o'er 

And watching to devour us. 
We lay it not to heart so sore, 

Not they can overpower us. 
And let the Prince of 111 
Look grim as e'er he will, 
He harms us not a whit ; 
For why ? His doom is writ — 

A word shall quickly slay him. 

God's word, for all their craft and force, 

One moment will not linger, 
But, spite of hell, shall have its course j 

'Tis written by His finger. 
And though they take our life, 
Goods, honor, children, wife. 
Vet is their profit small ; 
These things shall vanish all, 
Z^ a'f}' of God remainetJu 

As lie came near to the city, one of his warmesc: 
friends entreated him not to go on. It was then that 
he said: "I would go if there were as many devils in 
Worms as there are roof-tiles." And on he went. In 
his prayer at Worms he seemed to be alone with God, 
pouring out words that came from the depths of his 



MARTIN LUTHER. l6l 

soul. Listen to a few sentences from it: **0 my 
God, stand by me. O thou my God, help me against 
all the wisdom and reason of this world. Do it, Thou, 
for Thou must do it ; Thou alone. It is Thy cause ; it 
is not mine. I have nothing to do here with these 
great lords. O how glad I should be to go back and 
have quiet, peaceful days. But it is Thy cause, O God, 
who art just and infinite. Help, O Thou just and 
infinite God ! I confide in no man. O God ! Dost 
Thou hear me, O God ? Art Thou dead ? No ! Thou 
canst not die ; Thou only hidest Thyself a little. 
Come, O my God. I am ready. I will go like a lamb, 
for the cause is just and is Thine." What faith and 
what courage we have here ! As Luther entered the 
great building where the Emperor and all his enemies 
were, a baron touched him, saying: ** Pluck up thy 
spirit ; some of us have seen warm work in our day, 
but never did knight need a stout heart more than thou 
needest it now. If thou hast faith in these doctrines 
of thine, little monk, go on in the name of God." 
**Yes," said Luther, ^'in the name of God, forward.'* 
There he stood, alone, and gave, in words, that 
which carried conviction to many hearts — the reason 
for the hope that was within him. But this was not 
what they wished to hear. '* We want no reasons, but 
short answers," they said. *' Will you recant? yes or 
no." "I ivill give answer," said he; **an answer 
without teeth or horns. This is my answer: Until by 
proofs from Holy Scripture, or by fair reason and argu- 
ment, I have been confuted or convicted, I can not and 
will not recant ; for it is neither safe nor prudent to do 
aught against conscience. Here I stand ; I can not do 
otherwise. God help me. Amen." There, surrounded 



1 62 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

by enemies who were thirsting for his blood, and 
thought they had him in their power, he made the good 
confession before many witnesses. There, * ' prophet-Hke 
and alone, he stood, with dauntless words and high." 
Yet he was not alone; for they that were with him 
were more than they who were against him. For 
there stood by him at that moment One who had said : 
'*I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." This was the supreme moment of Luther's 
life ; and does it not bring to mind another hour, when 
Jesus stood before the Roman Governor? Our own 
poet, Lowell, has well said : 

Once to every man and nation 

Comes the moment to decide, 
In the strife with truth and falsehood, 

For the good or evil side. 

Then it is the brave man chooses, 

While the coward stands aside, "^ 
Doubting in his abject spirit, 

Till his Lord is crucified. 

** Where will you find a home ? " said one to 
Luther, **if the Diet condemns you?" "Under the 
broad heaven," was his prompt reply. Whatever they 
said, all who witnessed that scene knew down in their 
hearts that Luther had conquered. 

Charles and Luther never met again. The priests 
urged the Emperor to violate his safe-conduct ; but he 
replied: "If truth is to be found nowhere else, it 
ought to be found in the German Emperors," The 
monks said that on his death-bed Charles regretted 
that he had kept his promise with Luther. But this, I 
think, is doubtful ; for who, when he stood face to face 
with death, ever regretted that he had kept his word ? 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 63 

Luther died before the Emperor, and Charles once vis- 
ited his grave. The monks urged him to have the 
great heretic's bones taken up and burned. This was 
frequently done with the bones of those whom the 
Church hated. Almost any prince of that day would 
have done it without delay; but Charles, in maay 
things, was a noble man, and he said : * ' I war not 
with the dead." 

Luther's courage and strength came from his faith. 
He believed in God — not like those of whom Cole- 
ridge says, **They only believe that they believe." He 
knew that the voice of the people was not always the 
voice of God. He appealed from the verdict of the 
present to the verdict of the future, fully believing that 
the higher court would reverse the decision of the 
lower. 



l64 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE VIII. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTIN LUTHER. 

When Luther left Worms, all his friends trembled 
for his life. On his way home a squad of soldiers 
came upon him. They took off his monk's gown and 
put on a soldier's uniform, and carried him to the Castle 
of the Wartburg, where he was kept a prisoner for more 
than a year. This was done by his friend the Elector, 
to protect him from Rome. He was thus not only 
protected from his enemies, but it gave him time and 
opportunity to do work that he otherwise never could 
have done. The Bible, from which Luther had derived 
wisdom and strength, the book that had shown him 
what to do and how to do it, was locked up in the 
Latin language, and out of the reach of the people. 
He knew that the people must have the Bible in their 
own tongue, and night and day worked on the 
translation of this book into the German language. 
Scholars in all parties have testified that it is one of the 
best translations that has ever been made. Dr. Got- 
thiel, a Jewish scholar, says: "It is far superior in 
vigor and beauty to that of the English Vulgate. The 
latter is the work of bishops and scholars ; the former 
that of a poet and great original nature." *'How 
Luther got the language," says Heine, "into which he 
translated the Bible, is to this hour incomprehensible to 
me, for he translated it from a language which had 
ceased to exist into one which had not yet arrived." 
Everywhere the people were eager to read it, and 



MARTIN LUTHER. l6$ 

for some time the printing-press could not supply 
the demands. Rome opposed and denounced this and 
all other translations, and then was compelled to issue 
one herself. Nor was this all that Luther did while in 
this castle, which he calls his Isle of Patmos. He sent 
forth one hundred and thirty small books and tracts, 
wrote hymns and composed tunes, and sent letters 
of advice and encouragement to Melanchthon and other 
friends. 

On went the work of reformation, but not without 
great opposition. There were fierce foes without and 
dangerous foes within. At last the Pope excom- 
municated Luther. Now, thought his enemies, trouble 
will cease ; even if he is not afraid to preach, the people 
will not dare to listen. But what do we see? A 
multitude is gathering ; a fire is burning ; Luther is seen 
making his way to the fire. What is that he has in his 
hand ? It is the Pope's Bull. Listen : he is about 
to speak. He calls it the Bull of Antichrist, and 
counsels the Pope and his cardinals to repent of their 
devilish deeds and impieties, and warns them that if 
they do not he will give them over to Satan. He then 
cast the Bull into the fire before the astonished and 
admiring multitude, who loved him more than ever. 
Luther went home and wrote, ''The word of God Is 
making a noise." 

A new foe appeared in the West. It was Henry 
VIII., the *' Blue-Beard" of English history. In 
1522 there appeared from his pen a book against 
Luther. It was remarkable chiefly for its abuse. 
Luther is frequently called "The poisonous viper," 
"The wolf of hell," and "The limb of the devil." 
But the king's book was a failure, and he and the 



l66 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Pope then induced Erasmus to take up his pen 
against Luther. Nothing had done so much to shake 
the faith of Europe in the religion and morals of Rome 
as the writings of Erasmus. Luther could not have 
done his work if it had not been for Erasmus. But 
Erasmus had neither the power nor courage of Luther, 
because he did not have his faith. In him we see 
all the weakness and misery that belong to indecision. 
**He wished," says Froude, **to please the Pope and 
not exasperate Luther, and, of cqurse, pleased neither 
and offended both." 

Trouble now arose among the Reformers. A 
party known as the image-breakers appeared. Others 
wanted to go back and try and reform Rome. That 
great army that had just been set free, was it able 
to govern itself? Who was wise and strong enough to 
organize and direct it ? 

There was an insurrection that all thought would 
end in blood at Wittenberg, Luther leaves the castle 
that had been both his prison and home. His impos- 
ing presence, his wise and moderate words, soon quiet 
the mob and all return home. There was trouble 
at Leipsic ; Luther felt it was his duty to go. *^ Do n't 
go," said his friends; **the Duke George, who says he 
will kill you, is there." '* I will go," said the great Re- 
former, *'if it rains Duke Georges for nine days." He 
went; and his words had the same happy influence 
they had had before. Then came the peasants' war, 
and the Anabaptists ; then the Swiss Reformers part 
company with Luther, on the communion question. 
But through all this Luther labored and prayed without 
ceasing. That he often made mistakes and failed, 
and sometimes sinned, there can be no doubt. But 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 6/ 

he never ceased to work, and he never lost faith or 
courage. 

THE MARRIAGE OF LUTHER, 1 525. 

The breaking up of the monasteries turned out a 
large army of monks and nuns. Now and then a 
priest fell in love and married, and Luther approved of 
the act. When asked why he did not take the step 
himself, he said : *' I have no thought of taking a wife ; 
not that I feel no inclination towards that. I am' 
neither wood nor stone. But every day I expect 
the death and punishment due a heretic." But finally 
he decides that it is his duty to teach by example 
the same that he had taught by word and pen. 
Whatever Luther thought he ought to do, he did it 
immediately, or at least tried to do it. There was a 
nun, Catharina von Bora, whom, with a number of 
other nuns, Luther had helped to find a home. The 
morning he made up his mind that it was his duty 
to marry, he went to see Catharina, and told her what 
he came for. At first she thought he was jesting, but 
he convinced her that he was in earnest, and they were 
married that evening. Then he wrote : * * I have taken 
a wife, that my doctrine might be confirmed by my ex- 
ample, and that I might please my Father, tease the 
Pope, and vex the devil." This marriage was a happy 
one. Though at first they only had a high respect for 
each other's character, this grew into a deep and pure 
affection. *'I am not devoted with love for my wife,'* 
he writes, **I simply love her." When away from 
home, he wrote many affectionate and playful letters to 
her, and often said she was a prize ''above the king- 
dom of France, or state of Venice." He had five chil- 



l68 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

dren — three sons and two daughters, whom he loved 
with the strength of his great heart. He turned aside 
from his labors and theological controversies to write 
hymns for his children, and play and sing with them. 
The following lines, written for his own children, are 
still sung by German mothers to their little ones: 

Away in a manger, 

No crib for his bed, 
The little Lord Jesus 

Lay down his sweet head. 
The stars in the sky 

Looked down where He lay, 
The little Lord Jesus, 

Asleep in the hay. 

The cattle are lowing, 

The poor baby wakes, 
But little Lord Jesus, 

No crying he makes. 
I love thee. Lord Jesus; 

Look down frow the sky, 
And stay by my crib 

Watching my lullaby. 

LUTHER AND THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION, 1 5 30. 

Charles V. called a diet to meet at Augsburg, 
and asked the Reformers to make a statement of the 
doctrines which they held. The paper in which they 
set forth their views has been known ever since as the 
Augsburg Confession. This was the work, chiefly, of 
Melanchthon, who was the theologian of the Reforma- 
tion. If it had been only a statement of what they 
believed, it would have been well enough. But when 
it became an authoritative creed, and subscription to it 
was made the test of fellowship, then, like all other 
human creeds, it began to work evil, and only evil. 



MARTIN LUTHER. 1 69 

Many who believed that Christ, and not the Pope, was 
the Head of the Church, and that the word of God 
was to be followed, and not the tradition of the 
Church, could not subscribe to this Confession. Up to 
this time there were just two parties — those who were 
for the Pope, and those who were against him. Now, 
parties arose among the Reformers. Other confessions 
of faith were made, and the Reformers were divided 
into hostile camps. Ignatius Loyola took advantage 
of the auspicious moment, and established the Society 
of Jesus, whose members are to this day known as 
Jesuits. Luther and his friends made no great con- 
quests from that day on, and in many places they lost 
ground. Has Lutheranism given the world one new 
thought since 1536? Up to that time the Reformers 
studied the Bible to find out the truth ; after that they 
studied it to find texts to defend their creed. 

A few words now, concerning the character and In- 
fluence of Luther. Luther, with all his greatness and 
goodness, had great faults. Those who have tried to 
paint him as a blameless character, have been as un- 
truthful as those who would make us believe he was 
a child of the devil, in whom there was no good at all. 
His greatest fault was in half giving his consent to 
Philip of Hesse to get a divorce from his wife and 
marry again. At the conference with Zwingle, Luther 
showed a very bad spirit. After discussion for some 
time, it was found they could not agree in all things 
about the Lord's Supper. At last Zwingle said, with 
tears streaming down his face, "Let's be friends," and 
offered his hand to Luther. Then Luther, who de- 
manded for himself, In all his controversies with Rome, 
the right of private judgment, refused it to Zwingle. 



I/O LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

He had fought for toleration until he had become 
intolerant himself. And have we not seen persons who 
had opposed sectarianism until they became intensely- 
sectarian themselves ? * * The best of men are men at 
best." How the words of Christ apply to all: *' What 
I say to one, I say to all: watch." 

Like all true reformers, he did not wish his friends 
to wear his name, and when they cried ** Luther for- 
ever," he said, **No, no; Christ forever." ''Don't 
call yourselves Lutherans, call yourselves Christians." 
His life was a great warfare, and to him the devil was a 
real and powerful person. He said the devil often 
came to tempt him, and sometimes almost made him 
doubt whether there was a God. Once he was writing 
and something appeared ; he believed it was the devil. 
Bang! went the inkstand, and the devil fled, but the 
black spot, they say, is on the wall to this day. 

In 1546, Luther gave up his life and his work at the 
same time, having fought a good fight and kept the 
faith to the end. But his work did not stop at his 
death. He established, once for all, that men had a 
right to think for themselves; that each human soul 
could go to God for himself. For our schools, with all 
that they are and promise, we are indebted no little to 
Luther, for I believe he was the first to suggest that 
the Government should take part of its money and 
spend it in educating her poor children. Mr. Froude 
thinks that his Table-talk is one of the most suggestive 
books in the world. Carlyle thinks that the real basis 
of his life was sad earnestness, and that he was a true 
prophet. From the following words we conclude that 
Luther understood his own character better than most 
persons do theirs. **I am rough and boisterous," said 



MARTIN LUTHER. I/I 

he, ** Stormy and altogether warlike; born to fight in- 
numerable devils and monsters, to remove stumps and 
stones, and cut down thistles and thorns, and clear the 
wild woods." He lived a pure and laborious life; he 
studied the Bible daily ; God was his strength and 
Christ his hope. His motto was, *' Love all men and fear 
none.'* With gratitude for what he did, and with love 
and admiration for him, we say, ** Servant of God, 
well done." 



1/2 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE IX. 

JOHN CALVIN. 

*'Thou migtity man of valor" (Judges vi. 12). 
"We venerate Calvin; we love Luther" (D'Aubigne). 

Sixty-seven miles northeast of Paris is the Httle city 
of Noyon. If you had been there in 1594, you might 
have seen the whole city turn out to welcome Alexan- 
der de Medicis, the legate of Pope Clement VIII. 
This Alexander, who afterwards was Leo XL, was 
on his way to Vervins, to help frame a treaty between 
France and Spain. He stops the royal train, comes 
down from his carriage, and goes on foot to a small 
cottage. What can there be about a house so old and 
small, that one who holds a high place in both Church 
and State, and has such important business before him, 
should take time to go there? Only this: in that 
house, more than eighty years before, John Calvin was 
born. If he who was soon to be Pope of Rome had 
enough respect for this great opponent of his church 
to make a visit to his birth-place, may we not expect to 
find something of interest and profit in a brief study of 
his life ? We have the testimony of another Pone, who 
has spoken of the greatness of Calvin. It was Pius 
IV. who said, when he heard of his death: "The 
strength of that heretic consisted in this, that money 
never had the slightest charm for him. If I had such 
servants, my dominion would spread from sea to sea." 
It was of Calvin that Erasmus said: "I see rising up in 



- JOHN CALVIN. 173 

the Church a great scourge against the Church.'* 
Luther, in the midst of all his labors, found time to 
read the writings of Calvin, and says that he did so 
with ** remarkable pleasure." After reading Calvin's 
letters, Luther said, ** Here is a work that has hands 
and feet, and I thank God for raising up such a man.'* 
Again we are to consider men and events that 
belong to the sixteenth century. There are times 
when we have what may be called epidemics of great 
men and noble deeds, as truly as at other times we have 
epidemics of disease. This century witnessed an epi- 
demic of great men who had the ability to see the 
truth and loyalty to obey it. Again, it must be re- 
membered that the great forests, the rich fruit and the 
fragrant gardens, that we have in this nineteenth cen- 
tury, have come from seed sown in the sixteenth. 
They sowed in tears; we reap in joy. Or, changing 
the figure : some of the purest streams we drink from 
were struck from the rock by the sturdy blows of men 
who lived in that age. The governments and the 
churches of England, France and Holland, of Switzer- 
land, Germany and the United States, with the social 
and moral condition of the people in all these coun- 
tries, are largely the outgrowth of that great move- 
ment in the sixteenth century, of which Luther and 
Calvin were the most fearless defenders, the ablest ex- 
pounders, and the truest representatives. Luther 
aroused the people, and directed and organized the 
movement throughout the German States. Calvin 
stood at the head of the Reformation in France and 
Switzerland. Puritanism, with all its vices and virtues, 
is a stream whose principal source is Geneva. St. 
Augustine was the spiritual father of Calvin ; John 



1/4 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Knox his spiritual brother ; while Oliver Cromwell, in 
England, and Jonathan Edwards, in America, were his 
spiritual sons. We must not forget that political and 
religious tyranny and public immorality were the char- 
acteristics of that age; and Calvin resisted all these. 
In this lecture I shall try to make you familiar with 
some of the chief events in the life of Calvin. In 
another, I shall try and form an estimate of his char- 
acter, give you an idea of his doctrine, and show the 
influence of. his teaching upon the intellectual and 
religious life of the world. 

THE CHILDHOOD OF CALVIN. 

He was born at Noyon, in 1509. His grandfather 
was a cooper. His father was an industrious man, with 
a strong will, who became a notary in the ecclesiastical 
court. With an ambition natural to a father, he de- 
sired that his children should continue to climb the 
social ladder, on the first round of which he was then 
standing. In this the mother of Calvin was in full 
sympathy with his father. Though the high places in 
the Government were only open to those who belonged 
to certain families, even the child of the humblest 
might aspire to be Pope. So Charles and John Calvin 
were sent to school, to be educated for priests in the 
Church of Rome. Charles, though he became a priest, 
plunged into excesses, and became a most disrepu- 
table character, and brought himself to an early grave. 
He refused the communion on his death-bed, and died 
with blasphemies in his mouth. How different was the 
life of John Calvin ! Among the first things noticed by 
his teachers were his remarkable memory, his fondness 
for study, and a desire to be alone. He was seldom 



JOHN CALVIN. 175 

with the other students; and when he was, he was 
always finding fault with something they said, or ob- 
jecting to something they did: so they called him 
"The Accusative Case." He did not pursue his 
theological studies very long, for his father came to 
think that the law was a surer path to influence and 
wealth than the Church. So he was sent to a law school, 
where he made such progress that in the absence of his 
teacher he was called on to instruct the class. His 
teachers, though nominal members of the Church of 
Rome, took very little interest in either her services or 
her doctrines. For to men whose studies had made 
them familiar with the great thoughts of Greek philos- 
ophy and the beautiful sentiments of Greek poetry, and 
who were daily reading the fresh and stirring words of 
Luther, the old musty writings of the saints had very 
little interest. About this time the Bible was trans- 
lated into the French language. Calvin read it with an 
interest that increased daily, until to know what it 
taught was the one absorbing desire of his heart. His 
law studies now had little interest to him, and he spent 
most of his nights studying the Bible. Thus he dis- 
ciplined his mind and enriched his memory, but at the 
same time broke down his health and sowed the seeds 
of disease that brought him to a premature grave. 
His study of the Bible convinced him, once for all, 
that the Church of Rome was false in doctrine and cor- 
rupt in morals. He gave, up the study of law, and re- 
nounced the Church at the same time. There was no 
hesitation or reluctance at leaving the old Church, as 
there was with Luther and other reformers. He does not 
speak kindly of old friends, or record pleasant memories 
of the Church he left. Like Paul, he conferred not 



1/6 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

with flesh and blood. We next find him in the midst 
of a Httle band of persecuted reformers in Paris. At 
the age of twenty-four he was the leader of the 
Reformation in France. His writings soon gained the 
attention of thinking men everywhere. 

CALVIN A WANDERER. 

The King of France now began a bitter persecution 
against the Reformers, and Calvin fled from Paris. He 
wandered about from place to place. Wherever he 
found a few persons who were friendly to the Reforma- 
tion, he called them together and preached to them 
on his favorite text, ' ' If God be for us, who can be 
against us?" 

In 1533 he came to Nerac. Here he found a friend 
and protector in Queen Margaret, of Navarre, the 
sister of Francis I. In a cave, which is still called 
Calvin's Cave, he called the Reformers together and 
celebrated the Lord's Supper. Here, also, he met 
William Farel, who had worked long and faithfully to 
reform the Church, and, like Simeon of old, had been 
looking and waiting patiently for a better day. W^hen 
he became acquainted with Calvin, he believed he had 
found the man who would restore the Church. After 
this, Calvin returned to Paris. Here he met for the 
first time a man, the mention of whose name always re- 
minds us of a deep stain on Calvin's character. He was 
a Spaniard, and in Calvin's eyes a great heretic. His 
name was Michael Servetus. Calvin challenged him, 
and he accepted the challenge, for a debate on the 
Trinity. At the time appointed, Servetus did not ap- 
pear. Beza thinks it was because he was afraid of the 
sight of Calvin ; but more likely, I think, he was afraid 



JOHN CALVIN. 177 

of the authorities of the Church. After this, we find 
Calvin preaching with great success in Italy, but 
persecution again compels him to flee for his life. He 
determines to go to Strasbourg, and on his way stops for 
a night at Geneva. In this city Farel had done a great 
work. At a large meeting of the leading men of the 
city he had caused them all to swear, in the language 
of Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve 
the Lord." Still, Farel felt that he was not able to 
carry the work of reform to complete success. When 
he learned that Calvin had arrived in the city, he 
immediately went to see him, told him of the deplor- 
able state of morals in the city, and urged him to stay 
and undertake the reform. Calvin shrank from the 
task; said his health was bad, and he desired to be 
alone to pursue his studies. Farel continued to plead 
and entreat ; Calvin refused. At last Farel arose and, 
with eyes flashing fire, said, "Since you refuse to do 
the work of the Lord in this city, may the Lord curse 
the repose you seek, and also your studies." 

Calvin said it was as if God had laid His hand upon 
him, and the voice of the Eternal had spoken to him. 
He yielded, and went into the work with all his 
strength. In a public discussion, held with the leaders 
of the Catholic Church, Calvin not only proved to be 
superior to all others as a reasoner, but also better 
acquainted with the history of the Church and the 
writings of the Fathers than were his opponents. 
Joseph Jandy, a monk, arose and said "he had at 
length found the truth, and was able to understand the 
gospel ; and that if he did not receive it, he would 
commit the sin against the Holy Ghost." Mightily 
did the word of God grow and prevail. 



178 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Gambling, card-playing, dancing, theater-going and 
immoralities of all kinds were carried on in Geneva at 
this time. Calvin labored day and night to suppress 
these things. **\Ve hold," says he, **that it is ex- 
pedient and according to the ordinance of God, that all 
open idolaters, blasphemers, murderers, thieves, adul- 
terers, and false witnesses, slanderers, pugilists, drunk- 
ards and spendthrifts, if they do not amend their lives 
after they have been duly admonished, shall be cut off 
from communion with believers until they give satis- 
factory proof of repentance." Of amusements he 
writes: "I do not condemn amusements as such; 
dances and cards are not in themselves evil, but how 
easily the pleasures succeed in making slaves of those 
who are addicted to them." Calvin was in earnest, 
and on all sides began to punish offenders. Gaming 
houses were closed ; a gambler who was found using 
loaded dice was compelled to sit for an hour at St. Ger- 
vais with his cards around his neck; an adulterer was 
led through the streets, and, with his companion in 
guilt, expelled from the cit}*. Those who were caught 
out after nine o'clock at night, or found singing In- 
decent songs, were condemned to live on bread and 
water for three days. An Anabaptist, who debated 
with Calvin and would not be convinced, was expelled 
from the city. It is easy to smile at these reformers 
and condemn their methods. But just such mistakes 
have always been made by those who have undertaken 
reforms in the spirit of the Old Testament, and not of 
the Xew; according to the letter of the law, and not 
the spirit of the gospel. 

As might be expected, a reaction set in, and Calvin 
was banished from Geneva. But during the two \-ears 



JOHN CALVIN. 1/9 

that he was away, the young people were going fast to 
ruin ; the Church languished ; the city government was 
in confusion, and things in general were going from bad 
to worse. Calvin is begged to return. He does so, 
and continues the work of religious and moral reform. 
Perhaps he is not quite so severe as he was before,' 
though persons are sent to all the houses in the city 
to question those who live within upon all great moral 
and religious questions. Of course this led to bitter 
disputes and countless divisions. It was not enough 
that men believed in Christ, loved Him, and were willing 
to obey Him : they must be correct upon all speculative 
questions; all their opinions must be carefully looked 
into. Just here the saddest mistakes in the religious 
world have been made. While the true disciple of 
Christ will never be indifferent to any great truth, or 
moral wrong, and will always lift his voice against a 
liberty that leads to license; still, he will not quarrel 
with those who hold some opinions that he does not. 
If they are true to Christ, he will not doubt their 
Christianity, although on speculative questions he and 
they may hold very different views. As Macdonald 
says: "A thousand foolish opinions may be unques- 
tioned in the mind, and never Interfere with the growth 
or blessing of him who lives In active subordination to 
the law of Christ. Obedience will in time cast them 
them out, and many other worse devils also." 



l80 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE X. 

JOHN CALVIN. 

From the day Calvin espoused the cause of reform, 
until death put a period to his work, he lived a most 
laborious life. He was in labors most abundant. While 
in Geneva, every other week he preached every day; 
three days in every week he preached on theology; 
once a week he attended the meeting of the city offi- 
cials. During all this time he was engaged in numerous 
oral and written discussions, in writing commentaries, 
and publishing theological books. He was consulted 
not only on religious subjects, but on all the manufac- 
turing and business interests of the city. For twenty- 
eight years he lived this life of unremitting toil, during 
which time he never saw a well day, or for a moment 
was free from pain. Although among men he was a 
natural leader, clear-headed, cool, calm and self-pos- 
sessed, yet it was as a theological writer that his 
greatest and most lasting influence was felt. He was a 
profound thinker ; his style was terse and vigorous ; he 
never used words to half reveal and half conceal his 
thoughts. His views on all great Bible subjects are 
set forth in his *' Institutes " and " Commentaries." A 
writer in the Encyclopaedia Britannica says, in speaking 
of Calvin's Institutes: " It may be doubted if the his- 
tory of literature presents us with another instance of a 
book written at so early an age, which has exercised 
such a prodigious influence upon the opinions and 
practices of both contemporaries and posterity." 



JOHN CALVIN. l8l 

God was the starting point in all his reasonings. 
No Jewish prophet was more impressed with the great- 
ness, grandeur, dignity and authority of God than was 
Calvin. He believed that the one object man should 
live for was to know God. To him 

Heaven seemed so vast, and earth, so small. 
That man was nothing, since God was ALL. 

Very different, indeed, is he from Pope, who said: 

Know thyself, presume not God to scan ; 
•The proper study of mankind is man. 

Calvin, who was entirely engrossed with thoughts 
about God and his government, had very little time to 
study and observe man. Thus he has very little sym- 
pathy with man in his weakness and suffering ; nor does 
he understand the human heart or touch any of its finer 
chords. I have often thought that many of the follow- 
ers of Calvin, and others, also, have spent more time 
in speculating about God and in trying to understand 
the Godhead, than in trying to do God's will. It is 
Richter who says : * * I believe that this world is for 
the imitation of God and Christ; the future, for the 
exact knowledge of the same. One who would rather 
prove the Godhead of Christ than obey his precepts, is 
like a servant who should spend his whole time in 
proving the nobility of his master, but give him neither 
love nor obedience." 

Calvin's view of God led him to believe that man 
has no power or choice in his own salvation. He be- 
lieved that the seeds of corruption were born in the 
child, and that the little one was hateful and abomin- 
able to God ; that God had predestined some persons 
to life eternal, and others to eternal death. This stern 



1 82 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

theology has caused many to hate the God of the 
Bible, and driven them far from Him. I believe, also, 
that it was the chief cause of the rise and spread of 
Universalism and Unitarianism. But, turning from 
Calvin the theologian to Calvin the reformer, we see 
him working with all his might to bring about a com- 
plete reform in Church and State. He established and 
encouraged congregational singing, frequently quoting 
the words of the Psalmist, "Let all the people praise 
the Lord." He was among the first, if not the first, to 
establish Protestant missions. He was very strict in 
requiring persons to prepare themselves carefully before 
coming to the Lord's table; for he believed that "the 
impenitent partaking of the Holy Supper, instead of 
enjoying heaven, was swallowing hell." But he en- 
couraged them to come frequently to the Lord's table. 
"The custom," says he, "which enjoins communi- 
cating once a year, is evidently a contrivance of the 
devil. Every week, at least, the table of the Lord 
should be spread in meetings for worship." 

Calvin and the Swiss reformers were more strict in 
their moral lives, and were more determined to have a 
complete reformation in morals, than were the German 
reformers. Many things that the Germans regarded as 
harmless amusements, the Swiss looked upon as dan- 
gerous and sinful. 

Luther did not lift his voice against gambling and 
drunkenness as Calvin did. Luther was occupied 
chiefly in restoring the faith of the early Church ; Cal- 
vin with the restoration of its moral life. Knox said 
that Calvin established the most perfect school of 
Christ that the world had seen since the days of the 
apostles. Fifty years after Calvin's death, a celebrated 



JOHN CALVIN. 183 

Lutheran visited Geneva, and left this record of the 
impressions made by that visit: ** What I have seen 
there I shall never forget. The most beautiful orna- 
ment of that republic is its tribunal of morals, which 
every week inquires into the disorders of the citizens. 
Games of chance, swearing and blasphemy, impurity, 
quarreling, drunkenness and other vices, are repressed. 
O how beautiful an ornament to Christianity is this 
purity! We Lutherans can not too deeply deplore its 
absence from among us. If the difference of doctrine 
did not separate me from Geneva, the harmony of its 
morals could have induced me to remain there forever." 

CALVIN AND SERVETUS. 

Servetus, who was born in Spain the same year that 
Calvin was born in Fraiice, was a physician of some 
note. He conjectured, and almost described, the cir- 
culation of the blood. He believed that he had some 
great mission to fill. He delighted to dwell upon 
those passages of Scripture that speak of Michael, the 
archangel ; and he believed that these Scriptures in 
some way referred to himself. He said he was neither 
Catholic nor Protestant, though at times he would wor- 
ship in the Catholic Church and observe its forms. If 
he was anything, he was a Pantheist. Sometimes he 
was bold as a lion ; then he was cowardly, and would 
beg for his life. He wrote a book ; but when on trial, 
•he denied that he was the author of it. All the reform- 
ers were afraid of him, and Calvin had an especial 
dislike for him. When Servetus was being tried by 
the Catholic Church, Calvin sent the private letters he 
had received from him, with the hope that they would 
lead to his conviction. That Calvin determined to have 



184 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

him put to death, and finally succeeded in doing so, 
there can be no reasonable doubt. When it was re- 
ported that Servetus was going to Geneva, Calvin 
wrote: "If he does come, and if my authority pre- 
vails, I will never suffer him to depart from this city 
alive." When Calvin heard that he was in the city, he 
lost no time in having him arrested. ** I don't deny," 
says Calvin, **that he was imprisoned at my instance.'* 
He desired to conduct the trial himself, and finally did 
so, showing no mercy to the prisoner. It was a long, 
sad trial, the details of which we can not go into now. 
Servetus was condemned and burned at the stake. 
The trial and death of Servetus show us how long it 
takes to uproot an ancient evil. Though Luther had 
said the burning of a heretic was contrary to the will of 
the Holy Spirit, yet Luther treated with intolerance, 
and even cruelty, those whom he believed to be heretics. 
The early Protestants never got entirely away from the 
belief that it was right to punish a heretic with death. 
Farel, who was opposed to the Pope putting believers 
to death, still believed that believers had a right to 
punish heretics in this way. Calvin's treatment of Ser- 
vetus shows that he believed with Farel and others of 
his day. 

THE DEATH OF CALVIN. 

For twenty-eight years he suffered continually from 
frequent attacks of fever, asthma, stone and gout. 
When his friends urged him to take a little rest, he 
said: "Then you wish that, when the Lord comes, He 
shall not find me watching." When unable longer to 
perform his public duties, he refused longer to take the 
small salary that the city had granted him. He died a 



JOHN CALVIN. 185 

poor man, and requested that no monument should 
mark his resting-place. In the city register of 1564, 
after the name John Calvin, are these words: **He 
went to God on the 27th of May in this year." Beza, 
who had loved him devotedly for years, was almost 
broken-hearted. He wondered why he was not taken, 
and Calvin, who could have done so much more good, 
allowed to live on. **The wall that is between us," 
said he, *'will not prevent me from being with you in 
spirit." Again he writes: **We may well say, that 
in our time it has pleased God to show us in one single 
man both how to live and how to die. " 

THE CHARACTER OF CALVIN. 

In these short articles I have tried to give a true 
picture of some of the Reformers, and the age in 
which they lived. I have not intentionally covered up 
their faults, or magnified the sins of the Church of 
Rome. I have attempted to form an estimate of their 
characters, not from one author, but from all works 
within my reach ; nor from one event in their lives, but 
from their lives as a whole — what they desired to do, 
tried to do, and did do. ** Great events and great 
men," says Guizot, ** impose a difficult and painful task 
upon those who wish to understand them thoroughly 
and appreciate their worth." The character of Calvin 
is one of the most difficult to understand ; for among 
those who lived in his day and knew him well, and 
those since his death who have made his life and char- 
acter a study, there are so many conflicting opinions. 
According to his admirers. In greatness he was scarcely 
inferior to Augustine or the Apostle Paul, and his 
purity is equal to his greatness. Renan says : * ' He 



1 86 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

was the most Christlike man of his time." Hooker 
thinks that the wisest statesman then Hving could not 
have made a better system of government than he did 
for the city of Geneva. On the other hand, his ene- 
mies say he was cruel, vindictive and ambitious, and 
the murderer of Servetus. He has been spoken of as 
a prophet, and reverenced as a reformer ; and he has 
been denounced as a tyrant and a heretic. He has 
been called a saint, and he has been pictured as a fiend. 
Perhaps we may say, with Whittier; 

Some blamed him ; some believed him good j 
The truth lay, doubtless, 'twixt the two. 

If we would judge correctly the character of any 
one, we must always keep in mind the age in which he 
lived — its spirit, its morality, its intelligence. Accord- 
ing to the light and the standards of his day, David 
was a great and good man ; and in his deep penitence, 
his full and sincere confession of sin, and his heroic ef- 
forts at reform, he was a man after God's heart, and a 
model for all men. During his reign the people became 
happy and prosperous, and the scattered tribes grew 
into a strong nation. Yet, if in our country to-day, 
would he be regarded as a wise and able statesman ? 
Would not his moral character shut him out of the best 
society ? And is there a church in America that would 
receive him into its fellowship, unless it is the Mor- 
mons ? According to the standards of statesmanship, 
morality and religion, in his day, he was far in advance 
of his age and people ; but it is also true that he was 
far behind our day. Here is where Mr. IngersoU has 
always blundered. He takes men who lived thousands 
of years ago, and judges them, not by the light of their 



JOHN CALVIN. 187 

day, but by the light of our day. Calvin, too, must 
be judged by the standards of his age, and not ours. 
Mackenzie says: **In 1754 governments had not 
learned to reason; they could only fight." So in the 
sixteenth century they had not learned to reason, or 
bear with a heretic ; they could only put him to death. 
The God of Calvin, and of all Europe at that time, was 
the God of the Old Testament, rather than of the New. 
They were more under the law that was given by 
Moses, than the grace and truth that came by Jesus 
Christ. What the Bible says about the power and jus- 
tice of God, Calvin's mind grasped; but the long- 
suffering and patience of God, the depth of His love, 
the wideness of His mercy, he never seems to have 
understood. His preaching sounds more like the com- 
mandments that came from Mt. Sinai, than the good 
news that was proclaimed on Pentecost. He was more 
like a prophet of the Old Testament, than an apostle 
of the New. While I believe, taking his life and the 
age into consideration, he was a good man, whom God 
raised up to do a great work, yet if a man in this day 
and country were to do as he did, he would be a bad 
man. 

The fact that the lives of the best men who lived 
centuries ago can not stand in the light of our day, is 
proof that the light is increasing. The standard of 
morals in society is higher than it once was. 

So life shall on and upward go ; 

The eternal step of progress beats 
To that great anthem, calm and slow, 
What God repeats. 



LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XI. 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the be- 
ginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall 
be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh 
should he saved (Mark xiii. 19, 20). 

And there went out another horse that was red . . . and there 
was given unto him a great sword (Rev. vi 4). 

It was the brightest of the world's epochs (Schiller). 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ; it was the sea- 
son of light, it was the season of darkness ; it was the spring of hope, 
it was the winter of despair (Dickens). 

You have all read of the fabled mermaid — part 
woman and part fish. You know, also, that for years a 
diligent though unsuccessful attempt has been made to 
find the missing link between the monkey and man. 
Turn now to the map of Europe, and you will see in 
the northwest of Europe, jutting out into the German 
Ocean, a busy little country that for many centuries 
was part land and part sea, a kind of connecting link be- 
tween the ocean and the land. It has a soft, spongy 
soil, that yields beneath the feet, and often seems as if 
it was afloat. The ocean Is kept out by great dikes. 
Before these were built, the ocean poured in and ran 
over it, making it always uncertain whether it was a part 
of the continent or a part of the sea. From the com- 
mentary of Julius Csesar, we learn that he abhorred 
this desolate region as much as he admired the people. 
They were not priest-ridden and superstitious, as were 
the Gauls. Still they were a people deeply religious, 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE, 1 89 

who believed in one Almighty God, too sublime to be 
imagined and too infinite to be inclosed in earthly tem- 
ples ; but One who was always visible to the eye of 
faith, and whose dwelling-place was the heart of the 
pure and humble. Slavery, which existed in its worst 
form among the Gauls, was not known among the 
tribes that dwelt in Holland ; while, on the other 
hand, marriage, that was almost unknown among the 
Gauls, was held most sacred by this purer people of the 
north. The bridegroom gave his bride an ox, a horse 
and bridle, sword, shield and spear, by which he said 
that he expected her to share his toils and enjoy his 
triumphs. In the eyes of this primitive people, there 
was no greater sin than unfaithfulness to the marriage 
vow. They were a free people, who elected their 
rulers; they always loved liberty, and hated tyranny. 
In one of their earliest books it was declared that the 
people should be free **as long as the wind blows out 
of the sky, or the world stands. ** The strongest and 
purest men and nations have always been those that 
had to overcome some great impediment or difii- 
culty, either in themselves or their surroundings. It 
was the natural stammerer who became the greatest 
orator of Greece. It was a little man who, by climb- 
ing up into a tree, was able to see more than all the 
na;tural giants. Did not the men of Benjamin, who 
drew the bow with the left hand, have the name of 
being the most unerring marksmen, proving that ''ac- 
quired skill — skill which comes from laborious training 
— is always more accurate than that which Is more nat- 
ural, because less cultivated *' ? So in Switzerland, 
Holland, and other countries, where for ages men and 
women have had to fight with wind and weather, oceans 



190 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

and rivers and rocks, there has grown up a strong, 
thrifty, tough, wiry and independent people — men who 
would not let tyrants rule them nor priests think for 
them. 

The Dutch, who had built dikes to keep out the 
ocean, could make walls, even if they had to make 
them of their own bodies, that would keep out the 
Spaniard. They who had driven back the ocean could 
drive back Philip, although he had the largest armies, 
commanded by the greatest generals, and was the 
w^ealthiest monarch -of the sixteenth century. I can 
not follow the history of this people through the Mid- 
dle Ages, and can only notice a few of the leading men 
and chief events that belong to the last half of the six- 
teenth century. 

Look at this little country in conflict with the most 
powerful nation of Europe — a nation that had, in addi- 
tion to her own strength, the wealth and influence of 
the Church of Rome back of her. We are to see a 
small band of men, fired with a love for their homes 
and their country, sustained by faith in God and a 
strong conviction that right would triumph, going into 
a conflict with a bigot and t}Tant, who was determined 
to take from them all that they loved most, and destroy 
all that they held sacred. We are to witness the bitter- 
est and bloodiest struggle that was ever waged between 
freedom and despotism, a struggle in which over one 
hundred thousand persons were strangled, beheaded 
and burned, for the great sins of loving freedom and 
reading their Bibles. We are to see the wealth and 
armies of a great nation all engaged in trying to crush 
a few patriots and Protestants, who in turn refused to 
be crushed. 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. I9I 

Though the people of Holland were CathoHcs, they 
thought more for themselves and were less under the 
influence of the Pope than any people in Europe. It 
was a common saying among them that **no one should 
be coerced to believe, but should be won by preach- 
ing. " They were among the first to welcome the 
translation of the Bible, and most diligent in studying 
it. Thus they were like tinder, on which the words of 
Luther fell as sparks. 

As Americans, we are particularly interested In this 
chapter of history, for William of Orange, who was 
called the ** Father of his Country," is, in a very high 
sense, the father of our country. For all that is best 
in this country, we are as much indebted to him and 
others who fought by his side, as, in the Church, we 
are indebted to Luther and other reformers. These 
are the men who kept the United States from being 
what Mexico and South America are. 

Let it be remembered that at this time England was 
ruled by Elizabeth, and that Ben Jonson, Bacon and 
Shakespeare were living. There also lived that brave 
soldier and sailor, poet, historian, discoverer — a man of 
wonderful genius, magnificent physique, of great vir- 
tues and many vices, of brilliant endeavor and tragic 
death — Sir Walter Raleigh, **a man at whom men 
gazed as at a star." Who of that day belonged to our 
country as he did ? He named Virginia, and spent his 
vast fortune in her colonization. **Hewas the father 
of the United States," says Dean Stanley. "To this 
man, under the providence of God," says Kingsley, 
**the whole United States owe their existence." Mr. 
Eggleston assures us that if it had not been for 
Raleigh's bold imagination, forethought and statesman- 



192 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

ship, there would not have been an English settlement 
in North America. At the age of seventeen he was 
fighting with the Huguenots in France, and a few years 
later with William against Alva. I can not give an ac- 
count of his trial and long imprisonment, during which 
he wrote the history of the world. He gives expres- 
sion to his faith and hope the night before his execution 
in these words : 

But from this earth, this grave, this dust, 
My God shall raise me up, I trust. 

When told by the executioner to turn his face to 
the east, he said: "If the heart be right, it matters 
not which way the head lies. " There were giants in 
those days. 

THE INQUISITION. 

No one can understand the grandeur of the struggle 
between Philip and the people of Holland, or appreci- 
ate the grandeur of that cause of which William of 
Orange was the hero and the martyr, unless he knows 
something of the Inquisition. When one reads the 
history of this institution, he can not but recall the 
words of Shakespeare: 

Here are some of the unpleasantest words 
That ever blotted paper. 

Or the lines of Whittier : 

God lifts to-day the veil, and shows 
The features of a demon. 

What was the Inquisition ? Whence did it come ? 
What was its object ? ' No person, church or age was 
altogether responsible for it. It was a growth, not a 
creation. The object of Christianity was the salvation 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 1 93 

of men from sin; the preaching of the gospel, the 
heaven-ordained means by which this object was to be 
accompHshed. This sweet, inspiring story of suffering 
love won hearts wherever it was told. It was a light 
that penetrated the darkest places. It placed the bow 
of promise in the sky above the desponding. It bore 
the cup of joy to the saddest. Slaves and criminals 
heard it with delight, and sprang into a new life. It 
made converts among all classes, and went on conquer- 
ing and to conquer. But prosperity is more dangerous 
than adversity. Men who have been strong and pure 
in the day of adversity, have been corrupted and made 
weak by prosperity. So the Church that had walked 
in the garments of humility, in the days of Constantine 
put on the robes of worldly pride. She who had won 
by the sweet persuasive power of love, began now to 
thunder and to threaten. The Council of Nice, in the 
fourth century, condemned certain heretics to be ban- 
ished. Constantine, a little later, threatened with 
death those Avho concealed the books of Arius. Here 
was the Inquisition in the bud. Here was a small 
stream, that in the time of William of Orange had be- 
come a mighty river, that seemed as if it would drown 
all pure religion and sweep away civil liberty. Here is 
a little cloud smaller than the hand of a man, that in 
1 200 covered the whole sky, and was so dark that It 
almost eclipsed the light of the Sun of Righteousness. 
Here was an infant that grew until it became a giant 
stronger than Samson, more defiant than Goliath, and 
more cruel than Nero. In the rise and development of 
the Inquisition, we notice three chapters. We have 
the Episcopal, Papal, and Spanish Inquisitions. The 
Episcopal Inquisition had its origin in the church 



194 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

courts, where persons were tried for heresy. Some- 
times the bishops wished to do more than withdraw the 
fellowship of the congregation from the heretic — they 
wanted to banish, imprison, or punish the offender with 
death. But, like the Jews who judged Christ worthy 
of death, they did not have the power to inflict this 
punishment. And like the Jews, also, they appealed 
to the secular authorities to do this, and were often 
powerful enough to have it done. The Papal Inquisi- 
tion can be traced to Innocent III. There lived in the 
southern part of France a thrifty and pious people, 
who did not sanction all the practices of the Church of 
Rome. Especially were they opposed to the immoral- 
ities of the priests. This Pope undertook to enlighten 
them with the dungeon and the stake. This people 
refused to be enhghtened. The civil courts would not 
punish them. So religious courts were established to 
try all heretics. This was the Papal Inquisition, that 
at one time or another established itself in every part 
of Europe. Frightful as it was, it was only the half- 
way house to the Spanish Inquisition. It was perse- 
cution systematized — reduced to a science. The 
Spanish Inquisition can be traced to two men — Tor- 
quemada and Cardinal Ximenes, both the confessors of 
Queen Isabella. These two men, who believed that the 
end justifies the means, assisted by the Jesuits, per- 
fected this machine of hell. During the eighteen years 
that Torquemada ruled, one hundred and eighteen 
thousand families were destroyed In Spain. It has 
been well said of this man, with his wondrous genius 
for persecuting, that 

His awful name resounded like the blast 
Of funeral trumpets, as he onward passed. 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. lg$ 

It was this Inquisition in its worst form that Philip 
determined to plant among the people of Holland, who 
were natural Protestants, and loved their country and 
their homes. This was the devil that William of Or- 
ange had to face — a devil that consecrated the dagger 
of the assassin, and clothed with honor the spy and the 
traitor ; a devil whose missionaries were the dungeon, 
rack, stake and thumb-screw ; a devil whose delight 
was to destroy, and, worse still, whose breath turned 
love into hate ; a devil who caused Gregory XIII. to 
have medals struck off and Te Deums sung when he 
heard of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and made 
Philip of Spain laugh loudly when the same news 
reached him. Though Philip is dead and the Inquisi- 
tion has passed away, the same powers of evil are at 
work in society. There are foes at work bent on 
breaking our homes and determined to stop human 
progress and the spread of the gospel. In this little 
city where I am now writing, these agents of darkness 
have lately been. They have taken the names of all 
the boys and girls they could get, and are now sending 
them the foulest papers, and circulars that contain the 
most infernal suggestions. We shudder when we read 
of the Inquisition, and treat the ravages of intemper- 
ance with indifference. Those who will not lift a hand 
and voice to stop intemperance, would have done 
neither to have hindered Philip entering Holland. 
Those who favor the liquor-traffic, which has destroyed 
more families than the Inquisition ever did, would have 
been the friends of the Inquisition, if they had lived in 
the sixteenth century. These things are ** written for 
our admonition." Will we heed? '* He that hath 
ears to hear, let him hear." 



196 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XII. 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

On the twenty-fifth of October, 1555, the city of 
Brussels was crowded with princes and distinguished 
persons from all parts of Europe. It was no ordinary 
event that they had come to witness. As far as I 
remember, history records no other like it. In the 
midst of this royal assembly is Charles V. — the Csesar 
of the sixteenth century. His health is gone ; he is 
feeble. Dissipation and gluttony have done their 
work. The gout that has taken up its abode in his 
joints refuses to go hence. But for what purpose has 
he called these nobles together ? He is about to vacate 
the throne and give his crown to his son Philip. He 
tells them that in twenty-five years he has built up 
a great empire that is now threatened by heresy, 
and that a young man is needed to crush out this 
heresy. *'At fifty-five,"' said he, "I am an old man 
with shattered health ; but there is my son : I seat him 
on my throne as the defender of the faith and the ruler 
of my realm." Then he added : " I wish to put a little 
contemplation between my life and the tomb." It 
would have been well if that season of contemplation 
had led him to repentance and reformation of life. 
For, five years before this, Charles had issued that 
dreadful ''edict," in which he had forbidden anyone 
to print, buy, sell, read or give away any of the writ- 
ings of Luther, Calvin, or any other heretic. Further- 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. igj 

more, he said : * * We forbid all lay persons to converse 
or dispute about the Holy Scriptures, openly or 
secretly, or to read or teach the Scriptures, or to enter- 
tain any of the opinions of the above-named heretics." 
Any person doing any of these things, if a man, was 
to be executed with the sword; if a woman, buried 
alive, if she did not persist in her errors ; if she 
did, she was to be burned alive. If any one gave 
food or shelter to a heretic, or did not inform on 
heretics, he was to be punished in the same way. 
Even if a person was suspected of heresy, although it 
was not proved, still, if the judge thought proper, he 
was to be burned. This dreadful edict had been en- 
forced to the extent that fifty thousand persons had 
already perished. Philip takes the crown and reigns 
for forty-two years with the one purpose of carrying 
out this dreadful edict. It was to enforce it that he 
built navies, recruited armies, spent vast fortunes, in- 
voked the help of the Popes, the intrigues of the 
Jesuits, and the horrors of the Inquisition. It was to 
prevent it from being enforced that William of Orange 
gave up a life of ease and luxury for one of toil and 
danger. 

THE CHARACTER OF PHILIP. 

*' There was none like unto Ahab, who did sell himself to work 
wickedness in the sight of the Lord" (I. Kings xxi. 25). 

"Good were it for that man if he had never been born " (Mark 
xiv. 21). 

These words of Scripture apply almost as well to 
Philip as to Ahab and Judas. "If you would com- 
prehend events," says an old proverb, ''understand 
men." Let us now try and understand the character 
and spirit and purpose of Philip. ** Egotism and 



198 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

fanaticism," according to Schiller, "were the title-page 
and contents of his life." We do not have to go to 
his enemies, nor are we left in doubt as to the great 
purpose of his life, for he has said himself: " My mis- 
sion is the suppression of heresy." Never was a 
person better suited to his work, and never was work 
as pleasant to a workman. The chief article in his 
creed was, ''Keep no faith with heretics." He made 
the most solemn promises again and again, and gloried 
in breaking them. In a letter to his sister, who was 
not prepared to go quite so far, he says: *'A little 
wholesome deception can do no harm." Never was 
there a son more like his father than Philip was like the 
great father of lies. William soon learned to trust him 
least when he promised most. In addition to this, he 
was grossly immoral, for which he suffered untold hor- 
rors during the last years of his life. His cruelty was 
equal to his bigotry and immorality. He took as 
much pleasure in making others suffer as Howard did 
in works of philanthropy. Look at him returning 
home with his young bride. The city is illuminated 
with fires that are burning heretics. He finds no such 
delight in his bride as in the tortures of these poor, 
writhing creatures. "How can you look on and see 
me burned?" said an old acquaintance to him. "I 
would carry the wood to burn my own son, were he a 
heretic like you," was his reply. "Human victims, 
chained to the stake and burning, were the blazing 
torches," says Motley, "which lighted this monarch 
to his nuptial couch." 

If PhiHp ever had any high instincts or tender feel- 
ings, he murdered them all when a boy. His idea 
of God was a monarch something like himself, who de- 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 1 99 

lighted in cruelty, and whose chief attribute was venge- 
ance. Never once did he think that there is a God 
"whose name is Love, and whose other name is 
Justice;" One who sees the affliction of His people, 
and can raise up in defense of a just cause men who 
shall be stronger than an army with banners. 

"The Power that led His chosen by pillared cloud and flame, 
Through parted sea and desert waste — that Power is still the same." 

When the hour is ripe, the man appears. In the 
fullness of time God sends forth some one who is able to 
answer the vital question of the hour, resist the evil that 
is crushing His people, or reveal the truth for which men 
are hungering. It may be a deliverer and lawgiver like 
Moses, a soldier like Joshua, or a poet like David, 
whose words kindle the fires of patriotism and religion 
in the heart. The need of the age may be a reformer : 
then one like Luther appears, who fears the face of no 
one, and whose words are armies that rout and drive 
back the errors of a .thousand years. Whenever time 
has prepared a fresh field of conflict or labor, and the 
hour has come for mankind to take a step onward and 
upward, the stately form of the true hero and leader 
never fails to come to the front. All this is true, but 
Philip did not know it. 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

** He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and trusted 
in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him. For 
he clave to the Lord and departed not from following Him, but kept 
His commandments" (II. Kings xviii. 5, 6). 

These words are no less true of William than of 
Hezekiah. Go again to the assembly at Brussels : 
Philip is taking the crown from the trembling hand 



200 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

of his father, who is leaning upon the upright and 
handsome form of a young man of twenty-two, who 
possesses great weahh and belongs to one of the 
most distinguished families of Europe. Had you been 
a stranger there, he would have attracted your atten- 
tion; and, if you had asked who he was, any one 
could have told you that it was William of Nassau, the 
Prince of Orange, who is still called by the people 
of Holland " Father William," and is known in history 
as ''William the Silent." For more than four hundred 
years, dukes who belonged to the Nassau family ruled 
in the Netherlands. By and by Henry of Nassau mar- 
ries a princess of the house of Orange, a house of 
great wealth, and one that had been distinguished ever 
since the days of Charlemagne. Thus in William, who 
was born in 1533, there w^as the blood of two dis- 
tinguished families. His mother, a woman of great 
courage, patriotism and piety, was in every way worthy 
of her illustrious son. William was the oldest of 
twelve children, and inherited large estates in Germany, 
Holland and Flanders. Even when a boy there was 
something remarkable about him, for at the age of 
twelve he attracted the attention of Charles V., who 
said : ''This brave little man must be looked to." He 
was taken to the court of the Emperor to be educated. 
There he became a member of the Catholic Church, 
although his mother was a Lutheran. Charles recog- 
nized his ability at the first, and from the time he was 
thirteen made him his confidant in all things. At the 
age of twenty this youthful prince was made commander 
of the Emperor's army on the border of France. 
William was a careful observer and diligent student of 
men. Soon after Philip had received the crown, 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 20I 

William was left in Paris as a hostage for the fulfillment 
of a treaty with France. It was while here that he 
earned the title of "Silent." Henry 11. told him of a 
plot which Alva, Philip, and himself soon expected to ex- 
ecute. It was to destroy all the Protestants of France 
and Holland. William was horror-stricken, but showed 
neither surprise nor disgust, though he resolved that it 
should not be done if he could prevent it. Knowing 
well the character and strength of Philip, and counting 
fully the cost, he went into this struggle. One by one 
his dearest friends and nearest relations fell by his side, 
but on he went. He gave up estate after estate, sold 
all his plate and jewelry, until he who had been one of 
the wealthiest men of Europe became one of the 
poorest. He who was rich, for the sake of his people 
became poor. He expected help and sympathy from 
the Huguenots, but the news of the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew — which, he says, ** struck me to the 
earth as a blow from a sledge-hammer" — destroyed 
this hope. In the darkest hour of this dreadful 
conflict, an attempt was made to buy him. Philip 
is willing to restore to him all his property, pay 
his debts, and grant liberty to him and his family to 
worship God as they wish, if he will only retire to some 
other country. They say to him: ''There is nothing 
you will demand for yourself that will not be granted." 
He could toil, and suffer, and die, but he could not sur- 
render the truth he believed, or betray the people who 
trusted in him. ''Neither for property, life, wife nor 
children, would he mix in his cup a single drop of 
treason." 

Thank God, there are some men who . are above 
price. Here was one that kings were not rich enough 



202 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

to buy. Like the wife of Sobieski, the Pohsh hero, 
when her husband and sons were hid in a cave, and the 
conqueror came to her and said: *'Do you know 
where your husband hides?" *' I do," was the reply. 
**Tell me, and I will pardon your sons. " **He lies 
here," said she, ** concealed in the heart of his wife, 
and you will have to tear out that heart to find him." 
So the people of Holland were in William's heart, 
to live and to die. His life was one of daily toil and 
peril. Five unsuccessful attempts were made to assas- 
sinate him. More than all this, he carried a living sor- 
row in his heart. His favorite son, at the age of thir- 
teen, was kidnapped from the university by Philip. 
William made every attempt to rescue him, but without 
success. Yet through all this he was hopeful— always 
had a word of cheer for his people, and never lost faith 
in God. According to the historian, ** Upon a thou- 
sand occasions, by tongue and pen, he proved that he 
was the most eloquent man of his day." It is one of 
his bitterest enemies who says: "Never did an ar- 
rogant or indiscreet word fall from his lips, nor did 
he upon any occasion manifest anger to his inferiors, 
however much they might be in fault, but contented 
himself with admonishing them graciously." My 
eyes have never fallen upon a sentence of his that did 
not breathe a noble spirit ; not one word that showed 
the smallest desire for revenge. He never forgot, as at 
times some of the best have done, that 

The love of the Lord and man are one. 

But, eloquent as he was, no words that his lips 
spoke or his pen wrote ever equaled the eloquence 
of his daily life. He was not simply a man of keen 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 20$ 

intellect, deep feeling, and persuasive tongue, but a man 
of deeds, who carried the purest love into the highest 
sphere of action. If a leader is a person who has the 
power of kindling sympathy and trust that will cause 
the multitude to follow him eagerly anywhere, then 
William of Orange was a natural leader. His appear- 
ance inspired confidence ; his words kindled enthusi- 
asm. One writer says he was *'king of hearts." 
Another, that * * he made a friend every time he took 
off his hat." He never disappoints us; he almost 
always does more than we think can possibly be done. 
He is ready for every emergency; never fails to rise 
to the demands of the occasion. We do not have to 
say of him, as we do of so many of the great and good : 

With step unequal, and lame with faults, 
His shade on the path of history halts. 

He was one of those higher spirits that Wendell 
Phillips says ''forget themselves into immortality." 
Do not think the character of this man is overdrawn. 
If you will study his life carefully, you will learn that 
much more can be said. Remember that in a little 
country from four to forty miles wide, and not more 
than one hundred and twenty long, "this man, backed 
by its inhabitants, did battle for nine years against the 
monarch of two worlds, and conquered him at last." 



204 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XIII. 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I came not to 
send peace, but a sword (Matt. x. 34). 

We wait beneath the furnace-blast 
The pangs of transformation ; 
Not painlessly does God recast 
And mold anew the nation (Whittier). 

The people of Holland accepted Philip as their king 
without a murmur; they expected, however, that he 
would appoint as Governor-General of the Netherlands 
one of their own country. Orange, Egmont and Horn 
were all distinguished men, favorites with the people, 
and members of the Catholic Church. The appoint- 
ment of any of these would have been hailed with 
delight by the people ; but Philip, who had no thought 
of thus pleasing them, gave this office to his sister 
Margaret. She had been educated by the Jesuits, and 
the people of Holland had no love for her. More than 
this, he sent a number of foreign bishops among this 
dissatisfied people, who had the power to nominate the 
persons who should fill the most important offices. 
These unwelcome bishops the people of Holland were 
compelled to support. Then Spanish soldiers, for 
whom the Hollanders had a greater hatred than an an- 
cient Jew had for a Samaritan, were quartered in the 
various cities of their country. Everything was now 
ready, and persecution began. Peter Titelman perse- 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 205 

Cuted with cruelty that knew no bounds. He burned 
men and women * ' for idle words or suspected thoughts ; 
he rarely waited for deeds." One day **Red Rod," 
the secular sheriff, asked this missionary of the Inquisi- 
tion if he was not afraid to go about with only two or 
three attendants. **0 no, "he said; '*you deal with 
the dad. I have nothing to fear ; for I seize only the 
innocent, who make no resistance." Persons who 
sang a hymn at the grave of a child, or read, to com- 
fort the bereaved, the words of Christ, '*I am the 
resurrection and the life," were put to death without 
trial. No one was to teach the child of a heretic, or 
give a heretic a bed to sleep on, or a cup of water to 
drink. Murmurings were heard on all sides ; protests, 
signed by thousands of persons, were sent to Margaret. 
She feared an insurrection. At last the ** Moderation, " 
as it was called, came. It was a long document, and 
in substance said that heretics who repented should be 
beheaded instead of burned. The disappointed and 
indignant people called this ** Moderation " **The Mur- 
deration." 

THE BEGGARS. 

Discontent increased. Numerous petitions came to 
Margaret, begging for milder treatment, declaring that 
the edict could not be enforced; showing how business 
was paralyzed ; how merchants and manufacturers were 
leaving the country ; and that workmen were out of 
employment, and their families starving. Though 
Margaret cared nothing for the suffering of the people, 
there were the names of so many wealthy and influen- 
tial persons to these petitions, that she was perplexed 
and alarmed. A Spaniard seeing this, said: **Is it 



206 LIVES AND TLMES OF REFORMERS. 

possible that you can entertain any fear of these beg- 
gars ? " "Yes, we are beggars, " said the people; 
"we beg for our families and our country." The 
patriots were henceforth known as "The Beggars." 
They became famous in history; especially the " Beg- 
gars of the Sea," without whom William of Orange 
would have been powerless. 

FIELD-PREACHING. 

At such a time as this, human wisdom and strength 
are not adequate to the demands. Man turns to God. 
" In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he deliv- 
ered me," said one of old. Secret printing-presses 
were at work day and night. There was a great de- 
mand for Bibles and religious tracts. The seed was 
growing ; the fire was burning. Suddenly, no one 
seems to have known just how or where, tens of thou- 
sands gathered in all parts of the country to sing and 
pray, and listen to earnest men who were soon known 
everywhere as the "field-preachers." The condition 
of the people had much to do with the eloquence and 
power of these preachers. There were no non-con- 
ductors in those great audiences. When the preacher 
asked the Lord to behold their pitiful condition and to 
send them help, he touched a chord in every heart. 

These preachers were earnest men, who knew 
neither doubt nor fear. They were as poor as the 
apostles. They were hunted like wild beasts. They 
walked every day in the valley of the shadow of death. 
All had been educated in the school of suffering, and 
some of them were men of more than ordinary ability. 

These preachers, who were all united in opposing 
the Inquisition, had warm and bitter controversies 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 20/ 

among themselves on various speculative questions. 
Especially did they wax warm in discussing the ques- 
tion of free-will and election. It was in this century 
and country that the controversy raged which at last 
produced the famous **Five Points of Calvinism" and 
''Five Points of Arminianism." The Calvinists were 
led by Gomar, the other party by Arminius, of whom 
Neander says: " He was a model theologian in con- 
scientious and zealous investigation." O, why could 
not these earnest people, who differed in opinion, still 
be friends, and unite to put down evil ! Why did they 
bite and devour each other, and dissolve the pearl of 
Christian charity in their acid controversies ? But we 
must not be too hard on them, for there arc few, even 
now, who are so free from this sin that they can throw 
the first stone. When Louis of Nassau saw how the 
people were moved by the field-preaching, and what 
delight they found in it, he said : ** There will soon be 
a hard nut to crack. The king will never permit this 
preaching, and the people will never give it up, if it 
costs them their necks." Louis was a prophet. 

THE IMAGE-BREAKERS. 

The preacher took his text almost always from the 
Old Testament; the Old was studied by all classes 
much more than the New. They knew how this book 
condemned idols and images of all kinds. Had they 
not read how the kings of Judah had done right in the 
sight of the Lord when they destroyed the images ? 
Now the Catholic churches were full of images. Are 
not these the cause of all our trouble ? Mobs suddenly 
gathered in most of the cities. They rushed to the 
churches, broke the images by thousands, and tore 



208 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

the pictures into shreds. The priests in one church 
tried to hide the image of Mary. But the mob took 
after them, crying : * ' Little Mary, httle Mary, art 
thou terrified so early ? Beware, little Mary, for thine 
hour is fast approaching." 

The field-preachers worked hard to quiet the mob, 
but fruitless were all their attempts. It was a strange 
uprising. No priest was hurt, no woman insulted. 
Any of their number might have made himself rich if 
he had been disposed to steal ; but they had no such 
desire. In a few days it was all over. William knew 
that these poor people would pay dearly for this. 
**Now," said he, '*we shall see a national tragedy." 
Philip now condemned all the inhabitants of the Neth- 
erlands to death. This, perhaps, was the most sweep- 
ing death-warrant that was ever issued. Excepting a 
few that he mentioned, in three lines he condemns to 
death three million persons, without regard to age or 
sex. 

ALVA. 

The government of Margaret was too mild for 
Philip, and he turns to Alva, the most successful gen- 
eral of that age, for advice. Alva, who loved war as 
much as he hated heresy; who had never been heard 
to speak a kind word or known to perform a merciful 
act, advised that the king should cut off the heads of 
these heretics; but until this could be done, he had 
better dissemble. Philip had found a man after his 
own heart, for on all sides it is admitted that, for 
patient vindictiveness and insatiable bloodthirstiness, 
his equal has seldom, if ever, appeared. This man, 
with ten thousand of the best trained soldiers in the 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 20g 

world, accompanied with two thousand women of bad 
repute, set out for Holland. William made a heroic 
effort to arouse the people and nobles to prevent Alva 
from entering their country. But Horn and Egmont 
were unwilling to move in the matter. Orange, * ' un- 
able, " as he says, ** longer to connive at sins daily 
committed against my country and my conscience," 
and not able, at the present, to do anything for his 
country, publicly announces himself a Protestant, 
and goes back to Germany to wait. Alva has things 
his own way. 

The ** Council of Blood," its dreadful history we 
can not give even a brief sketch of now. The scenes 
of horror that occurred in prisons at midnight will 
never all be known until the day when God shall reveal 
all hidden things. The heads of Egmont and Horn, 
strict Catholics as they were, were struck off. All this 
time Orange was in Germany, not idle or indifferent 
to what was going on, but busy studying Philip and 
watching Alva. **It is my business, " said he, *'to 
study the heart of kings." While he muses the fire 
burns. In their suffering and helplessness the people 
of Holland appeal to him as ^* Father William, their 
only hope." He began immediately to raise men and 
money, not doubting but God had called him. **How 
many kings are on your side?" asked some friendly 
persons, who were afraid to give Orange their help. 
** Only one ; but he is the King of kings," was his re- 
ply. **Do you know of Philip's wealth and power?" 
said a timid person. **I know he is a mighty king,'* 
said William ; ** but there is a King more powerful still, 
who I humbly trust is on my side." On his banners 
are ''Now or never; " Freedom for fatherland and liberty 



210 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

of conscience.'' He speaks like a statesman, patriot 
and Christian. He is confident that wrong will fail, 
and the right prevail. He does not believe that God is 
dead, nor even asleep. His words were like the tap 
on liberty's drum. City after city declares for Orange. 
The foundation of the Dutch Republic is laid. 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 211 



LECTURE XIV. 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

**The man that is not moved at what he reads, 
That takes not fire at their heroic deeds, 
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave, 
Is base in kind and born to be a slave" (Cowper). 

This lecture might be called " Horrors in Holland." 
Alva, who feared that Elizabeth would lend William 
some help, sent two men to England to assassinate her. 
WilHam, who wished to prevent all the suffering 
possible, sent to Alva to propose that all prisoners 
taken should be exchanged, not executed. The only 
answer Alva made to this humane request was to hang 
William's herald as soon as he dismounted. I can not 
go into the details of this struggle. The soldiers of 
Orange endured great suffering and fought with great 
courage. Their leader made no great mistakes. He 
always had a word of cheer for them. He gained some 
brilliant victories, but his army was gradually driven 
back. His soldiers were suffering for food and cloth- 
ing; he had no money to pay them. His brother, the 
gallant Louis of Nassau, was killed in a desperate fight, 
and his army defeated. The soldiers were ready to 
throw down arms and go home. William spoke a few 
words and again rallied them. Some one has written 
these lines: 

"Brave boys," he said, "be not dismayed 
For the loss of one commander, 
For God will be our King to-day 
And I'll be General under." 



212 LIVES AXD TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

THE SIEGE OF HAARLEM. 

Alva now ordered his soldiers to put to death every 
man, woman and child in every town and city that 
made any resistance. The people were terrified, and 
city after city opened its gates to him. Haarlem, a 
beautiful city, but not well fortified, was the key to all 
that was left. It remained faithful to William. Alva 
sent his son, Don Frederic, with thirty thousand men, 
to capture and destroy it. Against this great army 
there were less than four thousand soldiers in Haarlem, 
of whom three hundred were fighting women. As the 
winter advanced^ provisions in the city became scarce, 
and Don Frederic rejoiced in the thought that they 
•would soon be starved out. On the night of the 
twenty-eighth of January, 1573, William sent one hun- 
dred and seventy sleds, loaded with powder to destroy 
hfe, and bread to save it, gliding across the frozen 
waters into Haarlem. One night one thousand soldiers, 
under cover of darkness, marched out of Haarlem into 
the Spanish camp, burned three hundred tents, slew 
eight hundred of the foe, captured seven pieces of 
artillery and all the provisions that they could find, and 
got back to the city with the loss of only four men. 
The next morning at the gate of the cit^^ a banner was 
flying, with the inscription : ** Haarlem is the grave-yard 
of the Spaniards." The ''beggars of the sea" made 
several desperate efforts to relieve the city, but were 
not successful. William wrote to England, imploring 
help. Night and day he tried to get men and pro- 
visions over the ice to Haarlem. Three thousand 
Spaniards were set to work to undermine the walls 
of the city. Women and little children turned out and 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 213 

worked on the fortifications. As fast as the soldiers 
of Don Frederic mined, the citizens countermined. 
They often met in these underground passages, and 
dreadful hand-to-hand battles took place. After turn- 
ing his artillery for several days on one of the gates, 
Don Frederic, seeing it was crippled, sent a strong 
force, under cover of darkness, who threw themselves 
with sudden fury on it at midnight. But the citizens, 
men and women, were soon on the wall. They top- 
pled the scaling-ladders over, set hoops smeared with 
pitch on fire and threw them over among their assail- 
ants, and pelted them with stones. At last they pre- 
tended to give way, and retired behind an inner wall 
that they had built. Don Frederic thought the city 
was his at last ; his soldiers rushed forward to enter, 
but just as they reached the *^ Cross-gate," a frightful 
explosion of powder, which the towns-people had put 
under the gate, occurred, and a large part of the 
Spanish army were in mid-air. Alva wrote to Philip 
that ''such a war had never before been seen or heard 
of in any land on earth." But on went the siege, till 
winter had gone and spring came and went. The food 
in the city was all gone. "We can die but once," 
said the starving people. ' ' Let us form ourselves in a 
square, place our wives and children in the center, burn 
the town, and rush out and cut our way through the 
Spanish army, or die in the attempt." Don Frederic, 
fearing that he would not have the honor of capturing 
the city, when he heard of this heroic resolve, sent a 
message, and solemnly assured them of forgiveness if 
they would surrender. They did so. As soon as the 
gates were open, he turned the soldiers loose upon 
them, and two thousand persons were butchered in 



214 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

cold blood. But it was a dearly bought victory to the 
Spaniards. It had taken them seven months, and 
many of their ablest officers and thirteen thousand of 
their best soldiers had been killed. William and his 
people were more determined than ever to continue 
the struggle. 

Whate'er the loss, 

Wliate'er the cross, 

Shall they complain 

Of present pain 

"VVho trust in God hereafter? 

Is there any one who thinks it strange that I 
have selected such a chapter of history as this? 
Should we not preach the gospel of peace and good 
will? True. But remember that Christ, who is the 
Prince of Peace, came to send a sword and to destroy 
the works of the devil. ** First pure, then peaceable." 
Have not some of the ablest men and most faithful serv- 
ants of God been soldiers? Think of Joshua and the 
Judges, the Maccabees, Cromwell and his Covenanters, 
Washington and his men, and Havelock. Men may 
fight a good fight or a bad fight. War is criminal 
murder, or glorious and heroic, according to the 
principles that are fought for. One thing is sure, 
that our great business in this life should be a warfare 
against sin. In this war ''there is no discharge" 
while life lasts. You will have every temptation to 
stand aside and shirk and act the coward that William 
had. "This is right, " you say. But the evil one 
whispers: "It will hurt your business or your stand- 
ing in the eyes of certain persons." So you say 
nothing. Some one says: "Come, let us do some- 



V7ILLIAM OF ORANGE. 21$ 

thing for the children that are being ruined." The re- 
ply is: " I have no children." Another says: "Let us 
put our heads together, and see if we can not do some- 
thing to save the drunkard and prevent the young from 
forming habits that will ruin them." You say, or 
Satan says through you : * * Let them stay away from 
the saloons, as I do." Do you not know persons who 
have lived for twenty-five years or more in one place 
who never did anything for the welfare of their city or 
country, who have never been identified with any 
benevolent or Christian work ? They have never taken 
the least interest in anything that did not immediately 
concern themselves and their families. Are they fight- 
ing the good fight ? If you are not using your talents 
and improving your opportunity, do not think that you 
would have been with Orange, if you had lived at that 
time. Every week we have countless opportunities to 
fight the same foes that William of Orange did, and 
cultivate the same virtues that adorned and beautified 
his character. Whenever we are tempted to lie, to 
w^aste time, to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the sad, 
to listen to or tell a smutty story, and firmly say 
no, and thus put our heel on the head of the serpent, 
we are doing in our field of action as Orange did in 
his. Thus may we fight the good fight, and endure 
hardness as good soldiers, and serve God and our 
fellow men. It is true of the individual and the nation, 
as Whittier says : 

Never on custom's oiled grooves 
The world to a higher level moves, 
But grates and grinds with friction hard 
On granite boulder and flinty shard. 



2l6 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

The heart must bleed before it feels, 
The pool be troubled before it heals ; 
Ever by loss the right must gain, 
Every good have its birth in pain ; 
The fiend still rends, as of old he rent 
The tortured body from which he went. 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 21/ 



LECTURE XV. 

\ 

WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

Be t^ou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life 
(Rev. ii. lo). 

If we do our best, God will assuredly help us. Had we thought 
otherwise, we should never have cut the dikes on that memorable occa- 
sion, for it was an uncertain thing, and a great sorrow for the poor 
people ; yet God did bless the undertaking. He will bless us still, for 
His arm has not been shortened (William of Orange). 

On the twenty-fifth of May, 1574, a Spanish army 
surrounded the city of Leyden. These were the dark- 
est hours. Orange was sick, and of his recovery there 
was very Httle hope. His two brothers, Louis and 
Henry, had been killed. The people of Leyden re- 
solved to starve sooner than surrender. When William 
was a little better, he sent to them, by a carrier-pigeon, 
this message: "Reflect that you contend not for 
yourselves alone, but for us all." By the middle of 
August they sent the Prince word that **if not soon 
assisted, human strength can do no more.'* To which 
he replied: "Expect help hourly till it come." Take 
one look into the city. A famine, with all its horrors, 
is there. There is a story of a man who was put in an 
iron cage. Every day the walls came nearer and 
nearer to him, until they came together and crushed 
him. So, day by day, the walls were closing on Ley- 
den. Little children, with pinched faces and sunken 
eyes, pleaded for food, and then laid down and died in 
the streets, or in the arms of their heart-broken and 



21 8 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

stamng mothers. Young ladies of the wealthiest fam- 
ilies ate their lap-dogs, the roots of trees and leaves 
boiled in starch, skins of animals in a little milk ; and 
the vilest food was ail that was left. Not all, either ; 
for still they had faith in God. In the morning they 
would rise, shouting, * * Death to Spain, Liberty to 
Holland, and long live Orange." ** We have nothing 
left," they write, *'but good spirits and hope of better 
days." What was there to keep hope alive? Only 
faith in God. Soldiers dragged themselves home of a 
night from the walls to find their families dead or dying. 
of starvation. Van der Werf, the heroic commander 
of the city, was one day surrounded by a starving mob. 
* * What do you want, my friends ? Do you want us to 
break our vows ? I tell you I have made an oath to 
hold the town, and may God give me strength to keep 
my oath. I can die but once, whether by your hands 
or the enemies. 'My own fate is indifferent to me ; not 
so that of the city intrusted to my care. If my death 
can serve you, here is my sword ; cut my body into 
morsels, and divide it among you." All murmurs 
ceased. The mob became patriots again. ** Yes, yes," 
they said, "death by starvation before submjssion." 
Near the end of August the fever left Orange. He 
paid no attention to the physicians, who said he must 
have absolute rest. He called the people together, and 
told them that if the dikes were cut, and the ocean al- 
lowed to flow in, in that way, and that alone, food 
might be sent to the starving city. Will it not drown 
and impoverish the whole country? thought some. 
" Better a drowned land than an enslaved land," said 
William. The dikes were cut. Early in September, 
two hundred boats with provisions, and eight hundred 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 2lg 

picked men, the choicest of the battle-scarred ** Beg- 
gars of the Sea," were moving toward Leyden. In a 
few days the boats were aground. There was no hope 
of moving until tide and wind were favorable. Can 
the city hold out? The Spaniards sent word to the 
sufferers : * * As well can the Prince of Orange pluck 
the stars from the sky as bring the ocean to Leyden." 
But still the banner was floating over this heroic city 
with the inscription: **Long live Orange and Free 
Holland." On the twenty-ninth of September the 
water came in, and the boats began to move again. 
The vessels of the enemy that had been prepared to 
meet them tried to stop them. For some time the 
struggle was doubtful, but soon, by the flash of the 
cannon, it was seen that the ** Beggars " were driving 
their enemy. The Spaniards jumped from their boats, 
but the ** Beggars" were after them, and with boat- 
hooks and daggers, slew twelve hundred of them. In 
the twilight of the next morning, the watchers on the 
walls of Leyden saw the boats with friends and food 
Hearing the city. They called to those in the city, 
**They come! they come!" and those who heard 
shouted back, **The Lord has not forgotten his own." 
They hardly tasted the bread that was brought until 
they rushed to the churches, saying: "The Lord has 
done great things for us, wherereof we are glad." 
They began a song of praise, but suddenly the singing 
came to an end ; all the people were sobbing. Boisot, 
the brave commander of **The Beggars," and ** Father 
William," were received with tears and shouts. Wil- 
liam suggested that they celebrate this deliverance by 
founding a university. Since then the University of 
Leyden has been to Holland what Oxford is to England. 



220 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



THE ASSASSINATION OF ORANGE. 

Philip began to see that this people could never be 
conquered while Orange lived. So, by the following 
offer, he tried to bring about the death of this noble 
man: "If any of our subjects, or any stranger, shall 
be found sufficiently generous of heart to rid us of this 
pest, delivering him to us dead or alive, we will cause 
him to be furnished with twenty-five thousand crowns 
in gold. If he has committed any crime, however 
heinous, we promise to pardon him ; and if he is not 
already noble, we will ennoble him for his valor." Five 
unsuccessful attempts were made on his life. Once he 
was shot, the ball entering the neck under the right 
ear, and coming out at the left jaw, carrying away two 
teeth. He thought he was mortally wounded, but all 
he said was: "Don't kill him; I forgive him my 
death." One day in July, 1584, a poorly-dressed man 
applied to Orange for money to buy some clothes to go 
to church in. The generous-hearted Prince gave him 
the money, with which the wretch immediately bought 
two pistols ; and on the tenth of July, as William was 
coming from dinner, he shot him. "God have mercy 
on my soul ! God have mercy on my poor people! " 
This was all he said, except a faint "Yes," when his 
sister asked him if he still trusted in Christ. Father 
William was dead ; but the work went on. On the 
evening of that fatal tenth of July, John of Barneveldt 
and fifteen others met and resolved * ' to maintain the 
good cause, with God's help, to the uttermost, without 
sparing gold or blood." They elected as president 
Maurice, the son of Orange, who was then only seven- 
teen years of age. His enemies laughed, and said he 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 221 

was a **twig." All he said was: ''The twig shall 
become a tree." He became the foremost general of 
his age — gaining victory after victory, until the last 
Spaniard was driven from his country. 

THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 

"It is impossible," says Motley, *'fora nation, even 
while struggling for itself, not to acquire something for 
all mankind." There are very few who understand 
how much William of Orange and his people, in their 
struggle, acquired for all the civilized world, and for 
our own country in particular. The governments of 
earth are wiser, churches are kinder, and Christians, 
while quite as firm in their convictions and as faithful 
to Christ as in the sixteenth century, are more tolerant 
toward those who do not agree with them. If Protest- 
ants from England, Germany and France alone had 
settled this country, they would have given a different 
tone and shape to both Church and State. Were not 
the early Baptists persecuted in Virginia ? Did not the 
Puritans of Massachusetts persecute almost all persons 
who did not agree with them ? Their ideas of religious 
liberty seem to have been the liberty to worship God 
as they believed was right, and the liberty to stop 
those who wished to teach a worship in any other way. 
But there was a settlement in the early days of our 
country that was willing to grant to others the liberty its 
people asked for themselves. They never persecuted 
any one, and their ideas and spirit finally prevailed. 
Who were they ? From what fountain did they drink ? 
How did they come to be in advance of the spirit of 
their age ? It will be both interesting and profitable to 
learn something of their history. 



222 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

In 1608, a small band of brave but persecuted Prot- 
estants left England, and for twelve years made their 
home at Leyden, in Holland. During these years they 
learned the great lesson that William lived and died to 
teach. In 1620 they bade farewell to Leyden, and in 
December of the same year they landed at Plymouth, 
Massachusetts. They persecuted no one. It was at 
Plymouth that Roger Williams found shelter when 
driven from Salem. This pilgrim band had learned in 
WilHam's country what he tried to teach when he said: 
*'Let the word of God be preached to all, without suf- 
fering any hindrance to the Roman Church in the 
exercise of its religion." When he thus spoke, the 
most liberal reformers were not prepared to go with 
him. They began to fear, and to say that he cared 
nothing for religion. Thus, in an age when reformers 
were bigots, he pleaded for toleration for all — for Jews 
and Calvinists, for Catholics and Anabaptists and Lu- 
therans. More than any other man, I think, he taught 
the true mission of Church and State ; that they were 
distinct, and yet both working for the good of man — 
the one leading man to material prosperity, security 
and civil liberty ; the other to moral freedom and peace 
of mind, all the time cheering him with a hope of God's 
hereafter. His private life and public acts, all that he 
said or wrote, and his motives, as far as we can know 
them, will bear the closest examination. He was pru- 
dent, but always brave ; daring, but never rash ; 
conscious of his ability, yet free from egotism ; firm, 
but not stubborn ; humble, but not timid ; a man 
of talent and tact at the same time. He was ac- 
quainted with books, but he knew men better. He 
was wise in counsel and able in execution. He could 



WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 223 

awaken the indifferent, calm the excited, stir up a na- 
tion, and direct the people when aroused. In the moment 
of success he was humble ; in the day of adversity, 
hopeful. His feet were on the earth, but his eyes were 
on the stars. He was a patriot without selfishness, a 
scholar without ostentation, a soldier without revenge, 
and a Christian without bigotry. He bore on his heart 
the burdens of his people, and carried in his soul their 
sorrows and his own ; and yet he went through life 
with a cheerful face. ** As long as he lived, he was the 
guiding-star of a whole brave people ; and when he 
died, little children cried in the street." Like all the 
purest and the strongest who have ever lived, the secret 
of his strength was his belief in God and a future life. 
You will search a long time before you will find a man 
whose faith in God and His word was so strong and ro- 
bust, and one so full of courage against all that was 
opposed to God. The lives of God's servants, whether 
recorded in the Bible or profane history, are a daily 
help and inspiration to me. It is well to keep them 
constantly before us, that they may not only stimulate 
us in doing right, but shame us when tempted to be 
mean or selfish. 

Though dead, they speak in reason's ear, 

And in example live ; 
Their faith and hope and mighty deeds 

Still fresh instruction give. 



224 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XVL 

THE HUGUENOTS. 

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were 
slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goat- 
skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was 
not worthy; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens 
and caves of the earth (Heb. xi. ^T, :^S). 

No seers were they, but simple men, 

"Who went where duty seemed to call. 

They scarcely asked the reason why; 

They only knew they could but die, 

And death was not the worst of all (Whittier). 

What study is so delightful as that which brings 
us into fellowship with the great men of a country 
who excite our wonder and admiration, and into com- 
munion with the good men who win our love ? 

Many of the most distinguished religious and 
political leaders in this country and England for the 
last two hundred years have been the children of 
French Huguenots. They have been found in all the 
honorable pursuits of life, and by their industry and 
thrift have been one of the most potent forces in build- 
ing up the manufacturing and commercial interests 
of these countries; while their pure moral habits 
and strong religious convictions have given tone to our 
society and zeal to our churches. There is some 
doubt about the origin and meaning of the term 
Huguenot. Some have thought that it was derived 
from Hugues, one of the early advocates of the reform. 



THE HUGUENOTS. 225 

Others, that it was a nickname that signified persons 
who walk at night in the streets; that it was appHed 
to the Protestants, who, because of their enemies, 
generally met at night. But while the origin and 
meaning of the word are obscure, there is no doubt 
as to who the Huguenots were. They were French 
Protestants. Movements that are really the same in 
spirit and purpose, often wear different names and 
dresses in different countries. Thus Socialism, Com- 
munism and Nihilism stand for nearly the same per- 
sons and ideas. Communism in France is very like 
Nihilism in Russia. The reformation in all parts of 
Europe was really the same movement — a stream that 
flowed from one fountain. That fountain was the 
Bible. The reformers all got their ideas and moral 
earnestness from the study of that book. Still, the 
Protestants of England, Germany and France, in some 
things, were unlike, because the habits, character and 
environments of the people were different. Again, the 
Reformation in most countries can be traced to some 
giant leader who in a large degree gave shape and tone 
to the movement. But it seems that the Huguenots 
never had a great leader who was the center around 
which they rallied, not one who stamped his own in- 
dividuality upon the movement. 

Luther and Calvin and other reformers in Switzer- 
land and England exerted a marked influence over the 
Huguenots. Yet they did not acknowledge any of 
these men as their leaders, nor take the churches in 
these countries as their patterns. In Germany and 
England the Reformation began in the universities. In 
France it began among the most thrifty of the work- 
ing classes — the mechanics, the wool-carders, cloth- 



226 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

makers, fullers, glaziers and carpenters. A Roman 
Catholic writer, Remond, tells us that the early Hugue- 
nots were * ' especially the painters, watch-makers, gold- 
smiths, booksellers, printers, and others who in 
their crafts have any nobleness of mind. They were 
men who 

The simple rounds of their duties walked, 
And strove to live what others talked. 

Very few of their names, even, have reached us, yet 
they were giants in head and heart, who believed in 
God and the Bible. In 1523 the four gospels were 
translated into the French language. Soon after this 
some of Luther's tracts found their way into the same 
country. Both were eagerly read, especially by the 
young people. The gospel leaven was working. 
About the same time a young man was wandering 
along the Rhine in search of work. . He could glaze 
and paint glass, draw rude portraits, and measure land ; 
in fact, he was ready to turn his hand to anything 
by which he could make a living. Like many young 
men of that day, his soul was hungering for knowl- 
edge. He longed 

To stride to the front, to live to be. 

To sow great thoughts through as he went. 

As God sows stars in the firmament. 

But he was poor, and so were his parents. " I had 
no books," he says, ''other than heaven and earth, 
which are open to all." Now and then he heard some 
one read the Bible, and by and by he learned to read 
himself. When the day's labor was over, he would 
meet with other workmen and talk with them, and if 
they could get a Bible or a part of one, they would 



THE HUGUENOTS. 22/ 

read to each other. When the Romish Church was 
making diHgent search for Bibles to burn .them, soci- 
eties of young persons were formed, each of whom 
was to commit a certain number of chapters. In parts 
of France it was said, when the Bibles were burned, that 
the peasants could refer to any chapter they wished, as 
they were all preserved in young minds. By and by 
this young glazier developed into quite a preacher and 
something of a writer. It is thought that he was 
the first preacher of the Reformation in the small city 
of Saintes. This young man was the natural philos- 
opher, chemist, geologist, artist and great potter, 
Bernard Palissy. Luther and Calvin made so little im- 
pression on him that their names never appear in 
his writings. On the subject of religion one book only 
was authority : that was the Bible. 

In his writings there frequently occur such ex- 
pressions as ** the teaching of the Bible, " ** the statutes 
and ordinances of God as revealed in his word." 
While pursuing his trade and preaching in the town of 
Saintes, he one day saw a beautiful enameled cup of 
Italian manufacture. He was seized with the desire to 
discover the art of enameling ; the desire grew into 
a resolution ; the resolution became the fixed purpose 
and passion of his life. For ten years he worked 
on this problem. He reduced himself and family to 
the verge of starvation. No one was in sympathy 
with him, and most of his neighbors thought he was 
going mad. He mixed his clays with his own hands, 
and, as he says, learned chemistry *'with his teeth." 
At one time he sat for six days and nights at his 
furnace without changing his clothes. When making 
his last and most desperate experiment, the fuel gave 



228 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

out, and he rushed into his house, seized and broke the 
furniture, and threw the wood into the furnace to keep 
up the heat. It is Httle wonder that neighbors jeered, 
and that his patient wife gave up in despair. But at the 
last great burst of heat the enamel melted, and he had 
made the great discovery that he had been so long and 
so eagerly in search of Yet, in the midst of all this, 
he never forgot God ; for he writes : ''You will observe 
the goodness of God to me, for when I was in the 
depth of suffering because of my art, He consoled me 
with His gospel." When the persecutions broke out 
he was arrested, and would have been burned, but 
as he was the only person who could make enamels for 
some palaces that were being built, his life was spared. 
When seventy-eight years of age he was imprisoned in 
the Bastile and threatened with death unless he re- 
canted. Though old and feeble, he was as brave as 
ever. The king visited him and told him that nothing 
could save him from death unless he gave up his re- 
ligion. He told the king that neither he nor all the 
people of France could make him change. "For," 
said he, "I know how to die." There, in the Bastile, 
he died. Of him the historian says: ** He was a man 
of truly great and noble character, of irrepressible 
genius, indefatigable industry, heroic endurance, and 
inflexible rectitude — one of France's greatest and 
noblest sons." 

I wish now to sketch briefly the persecutions 
of the Huguenots, from the beginning to the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew. In 1535, six Lutherans were 
burned in Paris in the presence of the king and a vast 
multitude. In 1559, eighteen persons, whose only 
crime was refusing to commune as the priests directed, 



THE HUGUENOTS. 229 

were burned at a slow fire. All over France 
those missionaries of the Church of Rome — the fire, 
rack and prison — were at work. But persecution has 
seldom destroyed a people who were worthy to live. 
And the Huguenots, like the Jews in Egypt, "the 
more they were vexed, the more they multiplied and 
grew." An alarmed cardinal wrote to the Pope: 
"The kingdom is half Protestant." Others, less 
alarmed and better informed, said that from one-sixth 
to one-fourth were Huguenots. At the death of 
Francis H. (1560) Charles IX., a boy ten years old, 
became king. When we think of his dreadful reign, 
we recall the words of Solomon: "Woe to thee, O 
country, when thy king is a child." When the only 
saying of his boyhood that has reached us is, that until 
he was twenty-five he intended to play the fool and 
think of nothing but enjoying himself; what could we 
hope for in such a king? During his reign of fourteen 
years there were four religious wars and fifteen mas- 
sacres. The leaders on the side of the Catholics who 
were most determined to stamp out heresy, were the 
two celebrated brothers of the house of Guise. Francis, 
Duke of Guise, was a great soldier of strength and 
energy, whose ignorance of religious subjects was only 
equal to his cruelty and bigotry. His crafty brother 
Charles, Archbishop of Rheims, by the Pope of Rome 
was called "the Pope on the other side of the moun- 
tains." On the side of the Huguenots there were 
Prince Conde, a great soldier, and Henry of Navarre, a 
still greater one. But the real hero of that period was 
a man of stately form, of clear ideas and strong convic- 
tions; his chief counselor and supporter was his true 
and intelligent wife. "He was as respectful in his 



230 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

bearing toward princes and his superiors as he was 
modest toward his inferiors." A miUtary hero on 
the field of battle, a patriot and statesman in the coun- 
cils of his country ; in daily life a Christian, who often 
communed with One greater than himself. Guizot 
says: " He was a great patriot and a great Christian." 
On the lists of the great men of France you will hardly 
find a braver or more stainless character. This was 
Gaspard de Coligny, **who lived a saint and died a 
martyr." Philip II., Alva and Catharine de Medicis 
now laid a plan to massacre all the Huguenots. Catha- 
rine was the daughter of Lorenzo de Medicis, of Flor- 
ence. She was the wife of one of the kings of France 
and mother of three children. An idea of her morals 
may be gathered from this saying of hers : ' * Kings 
and princes are absolved from too strict adhesion to 
the marriage vow." "Her character is a study," says 
Punshon. " She was sensual w^ithout passion, a diplo- 
matist without principle, and a dreamer without faith ; 
a wife without affection, and a mother without feeling." 
Coligny and the Protestant leaders were invited to Paris 
to arrange the terms of peace. On August 22, 1572, 
a man in the employ of the Duke of Guise attempted 
to assassinate Coligny, but only wounded him. When 
some one suggested that the wound might be fatal, 
" Death affrights me not," said Coligny; ''it is of God 
I hold my life, and when He requires it back of me, I 
am quite ready to give it up." Charles for a long time 
refused to consent to the death of Coligny, but at last 
yielded to the influence of the Guises and the entreat- 
ies of his mother, using these memorable words : 
** Assassinate Coligny, but leave not a Huguenot alive 
to reproach me." At midnight on the twenty-fourth 



THE HUGUENOTS. 23 I 

of August, 1572, the signal was given and the work of 
blood began. The murderers rushed first to the house 
of Coligny. As soon as he heard them thundering at his 
door, he knew their mission. ** It is God calling us," 
said one of his friends. **I have long been ready 
to die," he replied. In a few moments his dead body 
was hurled from the w^indow into the street. In a few 
days a hundred thousand Huguenots had been slain. 
*'By this act, " says Carlyle, ** France slit her veins 
and let out her best blood." When the news reached 
Phihp of Spain, he is said to have laughed for the first 
and only time. Rome was wild with fiendish joy. Te 
Deums were sung, a medal was struck, and a picture 
celebrated the event. But a terrible retribution fol- 
lowed those who planned and carried out the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew. Charles was especially haunted 
and tormented the rest of his life. He could not look 
any one in the face ; he grew more wretched every day, 
and could not attend to business. ** Whether asleep 
or awake, "said he, "the massacred corpses keep ap- 
pearing to me, with their faces all hideous and covered 
with blood." This man, who was responsible for one 
of the most tragic events in history, was haunted by 
these bloody visions till the day of his death. When 
dying he said to his nurse : ** Ah! nurse, nurse ; what 
bloodshed, what murders ! What evil counsels I have 
followed! What shall I do? I am lost; I see it well." 
He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind. 



232 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XVII. 

THE HUGUENOTS. 

The wretched death of Charles IX. occurred two 
years after the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Then 
came the inglorious reign of Henry HI., with its perse- 
cutions. At his death, in 1589, the leader of the 
Huguenots was Henry of Navarre, one of the ablest 
generals of that age. He held the same views of reli- 
gious toleration that William of Orange had held 
before him, though not a man of such deep religious 
convictions. At the memorable battle of Ivry he 
gained a most brilliant victory over the Catholic armies 
of France and Spain. He astonished and alarmed 
Catholic Europe, and won the confidence and admira- 
tion of the French. Just before the battle he addressed 
his army, which was much smaller than the enemy, 
saying: "If you run my risks, I also run yours. I 
will conquer or die with you. If you lose your stand- 
ards, do not lose sight of my white plume. You will 
always find it in the path of honor, and I hope of vic- 
tory, too." When reminded by a friend that his forces 
were few and the enemy's numerous, he said: "You 
do not see all my forces. The good God and the good 
right, they are ever with me." He kindled the same 
faith and enthusiasm in the hearts of his men, and, as 
Macaulay says: 

They cried unto the living God, who rules the fate of war. 

To fight for His own holy name, and Henry of Navarre. 



THE HUGUENOTS. 233 

He marched from Ivry to Paris in triumph, and 
every day displayed statesmanship as well as general- 
ship. More than three-fourths of the French people 
were Catholic, and neither they, the Pope, nor Philip 
could endure the thought of a Protestant king. All 
efforts were now made to get him to turn Catholic. He 
was threatened and pleaded with, and told that such a 
step would bring about peace, and put him in a posi- 
tion to render the greatest service to the Huguenots. 
*' What say you, " said he to a friend, *' about all these 
plots that are being projected against my conscience?'* 
ReHgion was not with him the fruit of deep conviction. 
He consented to be instructed ; then agreed to unite 
with the Catholic Church, if they would not compel 
him to say that he believed in the rubbish taught by 
that Church. He reminds us a little of certain preach- 
ers in our day who have signed and accepted some 
creed with ''mental reservations." It was, however, 
a great struggle with him. To the Huguenots he said: 
** You desire peace. I give it to you at my own ex- 
pense. I have made myself anathema for the sake of 
all, like Moses and Paul. Kindly pray to God for me, 
and love me always. I shall always love you, and 
never suffer wrong to be done to you, or any violence 
to your religion." His conduct can not be defended. 
There are laws of truth and right that must never be 
violated for any policy, however wise or promising it 
may appear. That Henry, in this case, sinned against 
his conscience, there can be no doubt. But he faith- 
fully kept his promises to the Huguenots. He issued 
the Edict of Nantes — that great charter of religious 
Hberty. The Protestants were allowed to hold ofBce, 
have their own schools, and enjoy their own places of 



234 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

worship ; in short, to enjoy religious liberty to a very 
full extent. Protestants who wished to convert or ex- 
pel from France all Catholics, and Catholics who 
desired to convert or burn all Protestants, disliked this 
edict. But all others rejoiced. Clement VIII. said : 
*' It is a decree which gives liberty of conscience, and 
is the most accursed that was ever made." During the 
reign of Henry IV. religious wars and massacres 
ceased, and the French became a prosperous people. 
When, in the year 1610, he fell at the hand of Ravail- 
lac, a Jesuit assassin, he was the most illustrious 
monarch in Europe, and France was becoming a more 
influential and powerful nation every day. 

Then came the reign of Louis XIII., or, more 
properly speaking, the reign of Cardinal Richelieu. 
He was the power behind the throne, and above the 
throne. At the age of twenty, he was nominated for 
the office of bishop. He was objected to at Rome be- 
cause of his youth. He went to Rome and delivered 
an address that scattered all objections. His body was 
as feeble as his mind was strong. When hardly a 
fraction of his lungs was left, he was still a vigorous 
thinker. When so near the grave that he had to be 
borne from place to place on a bed, he still carried the 
government on his shoulders. The policy of this re- 
markable man was to reduce the power of dukes, 
princes, and Parliament, and make the king supreme. 
*' All power," said he, ''concentrated in the person of 
the sovereign is the source of the glory and greatness 
of a monarchy." To make the power of the king 
absolute was the great purpose and aim of his life. In 
the accomplishment of this object he was stern and 
pitiless, and unscrupulous as to the means he used. 



THE HUGUENOTS. 235 

He made all possible effort to conciliate those who op- 
posed him, and if this failed, he crushed them without 
mercy. He denied boldly the temporal authority of 
the Pope, and told him that "the king, in temporal 
things, recognizes no sovereign but God." He went 
so far as to tax church property, saying that the 
*' wants of the State are real, those of the church fan- 
ciful and arbitrary." He compelled even the Jesuits 
to submit to his authority. The ultra Catholics called 
him the " Huguenot Cardinal." He kept the Edict of 
Nantes, not because he believed in religious toleration, 
but he desired the help of the Huguenots to build up a 
strong government. Yet all the time he was working 
for their destruction as a political party. * ' The way is 
at last open," said he, "to the extermination of the 
Huguenot party." At his death he said: "I have 
this satisfaction : that I have never deserted the king, 
and that I leave his kingdom exalted, and all his ene- 
mies abased." 

At the death of Richelieu and Louis XHL, which 
were only a few months apart, began the long, brilliant 
and wicked reign of Louis XIV. Cardinal Mazarin 
and Colbert were the great statesmen of this period. 
Bossuet, Fenelon, Pascal and Massillon were the great 
pulpit lights. But, at the death of Colbert, the Jesuits 
got the ear of the king, and as he was leading a very 
licentious life, they found less difficulty in controlling 
him. Thus it was said: "The old woman and the 
Jesuits have persuaded the king that, if he will perse- 
cute the Protestants, he will efface before God and the 
world the scandal of the double adultery in which he 
lives." At first the king set apart a certain amount of 
money for the conversion of Protestants. It was really 



236 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

for the purpose of carrying on a rather mild, but very 
persistent persecution. 

A Httle later the king's minister announced "that 
his Majesty would not suffer any persons in his kingdom 
but those who were of his religion." Then came the 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the policy of 
the government was : henceforth become a Catholic, or 
be killed. Then began some of the most cruel perse- 
cutions that history records. It was a war of the 
armed against the unarmed — a war against women and 
children, and the rights of conscience. Children were 
kidnapped by thousands, and torn from their parents 
and put in Catholic schools. Women were locked up 
and subjected to all sorts of cruelty, until many of 
them became insane. Men were sent to work as galley- 
slaves the rest of their lives. All the roads were 
guarded day and night, to keep them from leaving the 
country. Yet, strange as it may seem, the mildest and 
most liberal Catholics favored these extreme and cruel 
persecutions. 

CONCLUSION. 

I know this sketch has been too brief to be satisfac- 
tory, but perhaps it may cause some to read some good 
history of the Huguenots. A few lessons may yet be 
learned from what we have passed over. No history 
can fully show us what France lost by the slaughter 
and banishment of the Huguenots. The Reformation 
in France began with the most intelligent and thrifty of 
the working classes ; and after Richelieu had destroyed 
it as a political party, they retired entirely into private 
life. In all their trials, while frequently called * * here- 
tics," ''atheists," ** blasphemers," etc., not a word is 



THE HUGUENOTS. 23/ 

found against their morality and integrity of character. 
Their worst enemies never charged them with immoral- 
ity or idleness. **If they are bad Catholics," said a 
persecutor, " they have not ceased to be good traders." 
A Huguenot's word was as good as his bond ; and ** As 
honest as a Huguenot " became a proverb. It was 
very natural that they should become men of strong 
character, for they had to swim against a current of 
strong opposition and fiery persecution. As Milton 
says, **He who can best suffer, best can do." Is it 
strange that the slaughter and expulsion from the coun- 
try of this class was the death-blow to agriculture and 
manufacturing in many parts of France? At Tours, 
where forty thousand persons were employed in the 
manufacture of silk, the number fell to four thousand. 
Of the eight thousand looms at work at the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes, in a few weeks only one hun- 
dred were at work. The population of Nantes was 
reduced from eighty thousand to less than forty thou- 
sand. Of the twelve thousand manufacturers of silk 
at Lyons, nine thousand fled into Switzerland and other 
countries. 

In 1685 alone it is estimated that over one hundred 
thousand fled from France to other countries. Thus, 
when political and religious Hberty were crushed, and 
business was paralyzed, there began a new epoch of 
stagnation, pauperism, religious hypocrisy and moral 
decay. The great men of France disappeared. A 
generation of pigmies came on. The rotten and cor- 
rupt Church became first a target for the wit of Voltaire, 
and was then attacked by the clubs of Robespierre and 
Marat. As Carlyle says: ** Those of their predeces- 
sors who distinguished themselves in the crusades 



238 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

against Huguenots had slipped their foot in blood. 
But these fell lower; their foot slipped in mud.'' One 
reading of the suffering of the Huguenots will naturally 
say : ** How long, O Lord, how long ? " Though the 
sentence was not speedily executed, still it was exe- 
cuted. The day of judgment came. It always has 
come ; it always will come. If there had not been the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 1572, and the revoca- 
tion of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, no one believes 
there Vv^ould have ever been the Reign of Terror in 
1793. In 1572 and 1685, they sowed the wind; in 
1793, they reaped the Avhirlwind. When Rey, the 
noble Huguenot preacher, tried to confess his faith on 
the scaffold, and say a few words to his friends, order 
was given to beat the drums, and the speech of the 
dying man was never heard. But there came another 
day : when the unfortunate Louis XVI. tried to address 
a few words to his subjects, drums were ordered to be 
beaten, and his voice was drowned. There is another 
lesson. Notice what England and other countries have 
gained who showed kindness to the Huguenot refugees. 
They were homeless, and England gave them a home ; 
strangers, she took them in ; hungry, she fed them ; 
and God saw that she did not lose her reward. The 
windows of heaven were opened, and blessings from 
above fell upon her. She began to grow in wealth and 
power the day she gave these suffering children of God 
a home. Since then many of her purest patriots, 
ablest statesmen, greatest preachers, most successful 
men of business, leading philanthropists, and her 
brightest stars in the realms of science and literature, 
have been the descendants of the Huguenots. She 
gave the cup of cold water, and received a great re- 



THE HUGUENOTS. 239 

ward. Hardly less great was the influence of the 
Huguenots in the early history of our own country. 
Of the character of those who settled in this country in 
an early day, Mr. Eggleston says: "They were the 
fine flour of an accomplished people ; men of active 
minds, austere morals, heroic courage, and often refined 
manners." They were among the best and purest of 
our religious teachers. They were patriots in the days 
of Washington. They left their country and property 
on the other side of the ocean, but they brought with 
them their habits of thrift and industry. In a remark- 
able degree they have influenced for good our political 
and religious history. 



240 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XVIII. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 

A fire devoureth before them ; and behind them a flame 
burneth ; the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind 
them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them 
(Joelii. 3). 

And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars (Matt. xxiv. 6). 

We are now to look at one of the most important and 
certainly the most tragic of epochs in modern history. 
The Thirty Years' War was the Waterloo that decided 
the great struggle that began in the days of Wycliffe — 
that conflict between liberty and tyranny, progressive 
principles and established authority. It is doubtful 
whether anything transpired in Europe during this 
period, even in political affairs, in which the Reforma- 
tion did not play an important part. It was a life- 
and-death struggle between a living faith and a dead 
superstition, between progress and fanaticism, be- 
tween the spirit of toleration and the spirit of 
bigotry. It was the human mind awakened by the 
study of Greek and the conscience aroused by the 
study of the Bible, coming in conflict with a Church 
that was opposed to both intellectual and religious 
freedom, that kindled this dreadful war — a war that 
destroyed gardens and harvests, left cities and towns 
in ashes, swept away respect for law and order, 
dug the graves for countless thousands, smothered 
the sparks of civilization, and carried Europe back 
to the very verge of barbarism. Yet, out of this 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 24I 

terrible war Europe came free and independent. The 
evil passions that it aroused have almost entirely died 
out, while the beneficent influences remain. It is not 
the purpose of these lectures to give an account of 
the intrigues of courts, the selfish schemes of ambitious 
monarchs, or the political complications of Europe. 
These will only be referred to as it is necessary to 
enable us to understand this conflict for civil and re- 
ligious liberty. The Reformation was an attempt to find 
the **old paths and the good way, and walk therein." 
It also represented the principles of progressive civil- 
ization. Whether the shadow on the dial was to go 
forward or backward, depended on the victory of its 
banners. It owed its strength and final victory to 
the invincible power of truth. God works through 
agents in accomplishing His purposes. He puts a 
seed-thought in a man's mind and lets it grow until 
it takes complete possession of him, so that he can 
neither see, think, nor talk of anything else ; for it 
he is ready to labor and fight, and willing to die. But 
it is only by degrees that men come to appreciate a 
great truth. Like the man whose eyes Christ was 
opening, at first they only see men as trees walking. 
It was years before the apostles comprehended the full 
meaning of the gospel which they preached. Perhaps 
they never did. So it was a long time before those 
who pleaded and fought and died for religious tolera- 
tion were ready to grant to others what they demanded 
for themselves. Thus it was not only the persecuting 
spirit of Rome and that vilest of all maxims, that 
no one need keep faith with a heretic ; but the intoler- 
ance of Protestants, that brought on this war and made 
it last so long. Of all the parties then in Europe, 



242 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

none were willing to grant to others the rights they 
claimed for themselves, nor were those others able to 
appreciate them had they been granted. Rome would 
sooner risk the loss of every thing by force, than to 
yield the smallest claim as a matter of justice. If a 
treaty was made that secured a temporary peace, Rome 
always imagined that she had granted too much, and 
Protestants that they had received too little. The 
Augsburg Confession, in 1530, divided the Protestants 
into two hostile camps. Up to this date they had had but 
one common foe. That creed made speculative opinions 
appear so important to those who held them, that they 
looked upon all others as the foes of God and man. 
Thus men who in spirit and purpose were essentially 
one, came to hate each other. Rome had caused men 
to lose sight of Christ by burying Him under the 
Church, and now Protestants buried Him under formal 
renderings of truth. The Augsburg Confession, like all 
human creeds, checked the spirit of inquiry. Lu- 
theranism since that day has made no great conquests, 
and has given no new idea to the world. From the 
day the Confession was published men ceased, in a 
great measure, to study the Bible, and began to study 
this human stajndard ; they turned in no small degree 
from Christ, and fixed their gaze on human leaders. 
Hatred between Lutherans and Calvinists became so 
great that they were ready to persecute each other 
with fire and sword. Thus, when the Elector Frederic 
IV. was, at the age of nine, put in a Calvinistic 
school, his teachers were ordered to use blows, if 
necessary, to drive the Lutheran heresy out of his 
soul. Protestantism, thus divided, ceased to make 
conquests, and lost much that it had gained; and the 



THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 243 

cause of this sad change, says Schiller, *'is to be 
sought for in the Confession itself." Let the advocates 
of human creeds study closely this portion of history. 

THE CONDITION OF EUROPE AT THE OPENING OF THE WAR. 

Spain, once the greatest power In Europe, was now 
decaying. The gold she had stolen from Mexico and 
South America was eating like a canker. In attempt- 
ing to crush Holland she had inflicted a mortal wound 
upon herself. She had lost the power to produce great 
things. Her statesmen were ignorant and stupid 
monks. But she still kept her bigotry and pride, and 
hatred of the Reformation. 

The glory of France was on the wane. Fierce 
civil wars during four stormy reigns shook her to 
the foundation. She had destroyed and expelled the 
Huguenots, her best subjects, and expended much 
of her strength in doing so. Austria was the rising 
power, and all her wealth and influence were directed 
against the Reformation. Switzerland was Protestant, 
but not powerful. The people of Holland still re- 
membered the words of William of Orange, and were 
ready to help their brethren in Germany. In England 
the great question of the age had not yet been settled. 
Men who could read the signs of the times saw that 
she was approaching a crisis. Elizabeth had gone, but 
Cromwell had not come. Under Christian IV., Den- 
mark had risen to be a greater power than she ever 
was before or has been since. 

Far to the north was Sweden, preparing to take a 
part in this war far out of proportion to her size, popu- 
lation and resources. From Sweden was to come 
the hero of that age. At the opening of the war 



244 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

in 1618, Protestantism had no great theological or 
military leader. Luther, Calvin, and all the fathers 
of the Reformation, had long since gone to their re- 
ward. William of Orange, Coligny, and Henry IV. 
had each fallen before an enemy that did not scruple to 
use the dagger of the assassin when the sword failed. 
Cromwell was only a boy in an English school, and 
Europe knew almost nothing of the character and 
ability of Gustavus Adolphus. 

THE LEADING ACTORS IN THE THIRTY YEARS* WAR. 

Early in 16 18 the fires of war broke out in Bo- 
hemia. In Bohemia, a century before Luther, the first 
spark of the religious wars had been kindled ; a cen- 
tury after Luther, the flames of the Thirty Years' War 
burst out in that country. Into this war every country 
in Europe was drawn. The blundering bigotry of Fer- 
dinand II., Emperor of Germany, was the immediate 
cause of the war. ** History," says Schiller, ** exhibits 
many greater despots than Ferdinand, yet he alone has 
had the unfortunate celebrity of kindling the Thirty 
Years' War." He was educated by the Jesuits and 
received the apostolic benediction from Clement VIIL, 
at Rome. His confessor tells us ''that nothing on 
earth was more sacred in his eyes than a priest." ''If 
it should happen," he used to say, "that an angel and 
a priest should meet him at the same time, the priest 
should receive the first and the angel the second obei- 
sance." Before he received the crown he had made a 
vow to " the Holy Virgin to extend her religion, even 
at the risk of his life." Knowing this of him, one 
is not surprised that at the beginning of his reign 
he went to work to expel all Protestants, even from 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 245 

those States where they were largely in a majority, and 
to confiscate their property ; and while he revoked 
all acts of toleration and deprived his Protestant 
subjects of the right to think, he "magnanimously left 
them the right to tax themselves." This man was 
supported by the wealth and influence of the Church of 
Rome and some of the ablest generals of his day. 
There was Wallenstein, a military genius of undoubted 
courage and great wealth, yet who was controlled by 
no lofty principle, and acted from no high motive. He 
loved but one — himself. He fought for neither the 
Emperor, country, nor church, but for Wallenstein. 
Apart from his ability, there is everything to detest 
and nothing to admire. In Tilly the Emperor had a 
general equally as able as Wallenstein, and as faithful 
as he was able. In religion a bigot, in spirit a Span- 
iard, he was ready to die for his king or his church. He 
reminds us more of Alva than of any one in the seven- 
teenth century. Pappenheim and Piccolomini were 
but little inferior to Tilly. In the early part of the 
war the Protestant armies were everywhere overthrown 
by Tilly and Wallenstein. 

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 

This great hero was born in 1594, and was called to 
the throne of Sweden when only seventeen years 
of age. Yet, young as he was, he had distinguished 
himself as a general, and had been a diligent student of 
ancient history. According to Oxenstierna, he spoke 
Latin, German, French and Italian, and knew some- 
thing of the Russian and Polish tongues. Seldom, 
if ever, did a young man have a better control over 
both his lower and higher passions. He made tolera- 



246 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

tion the law of his own country. In his unfaltering 
faith and blameless moral life he was a bright example 
to his subjects. The word of Luther had shaken 
the Catholic Church; now the sword of Gustavus 
Adolphus was to smite it anew. Although Ferdinand 
laughed at his small army, and called him the * * King 
of Snow," his ability was recognized by the Spanish 
General Spinola, who declared that ** Gustavus of 
Sweden is the only Protestant chief whom we dare not 
provoke." **All Germany," says Schiller, **was 
astonished at the strict discipline which distinguished 
the Swedish army; all disorders were punished with 
the utmost severity, particularly impiety, theft, gam- 
bling and dueling. The general's eye looked as vigi- 
lantly to the morals as to the martial bravery of his 
soldiers; every regiment was ordered to form around 
its chaplain for morning and evening prayers. In all 
these points the lawgiver was also an example. A 
sincere and ardent piety exalted his courage. Equally 
free from the coarse infidelity which leaves the passions 
of the barbarian without control, and from the grovel- 
ing superstition of Ferdinand, who humbled himself to 
the dust before the Supreme Being while he trampled 
on his fellow creatures ; in the hight of his success, he 
was ever a man and a Christian — in the hight of 
his devotion, a king and a hero." He has been truly 
called "the lion of the North and the prop of the 
Protestant faith." This is the man that the persecuted 
Protestants appealed to. Nor did they appeal in vain. 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 24/ 



LECTURE XIX. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 

As soon as Gustavus Adolphus decided that it was 
his duty to help the persecuted Protestants of Ger- 
many, he immediately began to raise an army and 
make arrangements for the government of the kingdom 
during his absence. *' He set his house in order like a 
dying man." On the twentieth of May, 1630, when 
all arrangements had been made, the king appeared be- 
fore the great assembly at Stockholm and delivered his 
farewell address to a multitude who were dissolved in 
tears. These were his words: 

**Not lightly or wantonly am I about to involve 
myself and you in this new and dangerous war. God is 
my witness that I do not fight to gratify my own am- 
bitions. But the Emperor has wronged me most 
shamefully. He has supported my enemies, persecuted 
my friends and brethren, trampled my religion in the 
dust, and even stretched his revengeful arm against my 
crown. The oppressed States of Germany call loudly 
for aid, which, by God's help, we will give them. 

* * I am fully sensible of the dangers to which my 
life will be exposed. I never yet shrank from them, 
nor is it likely that I shall escape them all. Hitherto 
Providence has wonderfully protected me ; but I shall 
at last fall in the defense of my country. I commend 
you to the protection of Heaven. Be just, conscien- 
tious ; act uprightly, and we shall meet again in 
eternity. 



248 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

*'To you, my Counselors of State, I address myself 
first. May God enlighten you and fill you with wis- 
dom to promote the welfare of my people. You, too, 
my brave Nobles, I commend to the Divine protection. 
Continue to prove yourselves the worthy successors of 
those Gothic heroes whose bravery humbled to the 
dust the pride of ancient Rome. 

"To you. Ministers of Religion, I recommend mod- 
eration and unity. Be yourselves examples of the 
virtues which you preach, and abuse not your influence 
over the minds of my people. On you. Deputies of 
the Burgesses, and the peasantry, I entreat the blessing 
of Heaven. May your industry be rewarded by a 
prosperous harvest, and may you be crowned abun- 
dantly with all the blessings of this life. For the pros- 
perity of all my subjects, absent and present, I offer 
my warmest prayers to Heaven. I bid you all a sin- 
cere — it may be an eternal — farewell." 

Such words could not fail to awaken the highest ad- 
miration for the speaker, and cause those to whom they 
were delivered to expect great things of such a hero. 
Nor did he disappoint the highest expectations ; for he 
proved himself to be undoubtedly the greatest general 
in an age of great generals, and the bravest soldier in 
an army of brave men. His courage made the coward 
brave, and in his presence the immoral became pure. 

On the twenty-fifth of June, 1630, the king of Swe- 
den landed with his army at the mouth of the Oder, in 
the midst of a thunder-storm. The camp-fires of an 
enemy four times as numerous were in sight. 

Gustavus Adolphus was the first to land, and kneel- 
ing, offered a prayer. The Austrian army fell back 
before him. His movements were so rapid, his calcu- 



THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 249 

latlons SO correct, his courage and generalship so 
remarkable, that in eight months he had made himself 
master of eighty fortified places, and captured numer- 
ous magazines and stores belonging to the enemy. He 
alarmed his foes, inspired confidence in his friends, and 
astonished all Europe. As winter came on, his ene- 
mies hoped to have time to rest and recruit ; but in this 
they were doomed to disappointment; for Gustavus 
Adolphus announced that the Swedes were soldiers in 
winter as well as in summer. During the winter he was 
successful in all he undertook. He captured Frankfort 
on the Oder, and hastened to the relief of Magdeburg. 
It was one of the wealthiest and most important cities 
in Germany. It was here, at the age of fourteen, that 
Luther entered school. This city was now surrounded 
by the armies of Tilly and Pappenheim. There were 
about thirty thousand persons within its walls, of whom 
three thousand were regular soldiers. They defended 
the city heroically, and repulsed assault after assault 
with desperate courage. Their hopes revived on hear- 
ing that Gustavus Adolphus was within three days' 
march of their walls, and Tilly despaired of taking it 
before his arrival. On the ninth of May, Tilly pre- 
pared to abandon the siege. His cannon ceased to 
fire, and a death-like stillness reigned. The besieged 
were full of joy. Their hopes were high, thinking that 
the danger was over. After their long toils, they went 
to sleep. Well has the historian said: '*It was a 
dear sleep and a frightful awakening." Tilly deter- 
mined to hazard an assault. He attacked four different 
points at the same time. The guards, even, were asleep, 
and the army was soon in the unfortunate city. Tilly 
left the lives of the citizens entirely in the hands of the 



250 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

soldiers, who broke into house after house to satisfy 
their most brutal passions. ** Here commenced," says 
Schiller, **a scene of horrors for which history has no 
language, poetry no pencil." Neither innocent child- 
hood, helpless age, nor pure womanhood, could disarm 
the fury of the conquerors. Fifty-three women were 
fouad beheaded in one church. Soldiers amused them- 
selves by throwing children into the flames, and 
stabbing infants at their mothers* breasts. The whole 
number killed in this dreadful massacre was not less 
than thirty thousand. The city was robbed of its 
wealth, and then left in ashes. The first effect of the 
fall of Magdeburg was to stun all Protestant Europe, 
and then to produce in them the courage of desper- 
ation. 

The next great event of this war was the battle of 
Leipslc. Near this city, the armies of Tilly and Gus- 
tavus Adolphus met. The two greatest generals of 
that day stood face to face. Neither had ever been de- 
feated, and the soldiers of each believed his command- 
er to be invincible. One general was to lose on this 
field his laurels forever. Though the army of Tilly 
was composed of picked men, and was superior in 
numbers and had the advantage in position, Tilly was 
not himself on that day. He had formed no clear plan 
of battle. He lacked the coolness and firmness for 
which he was so noted. "The shades of Magdeburg 
seemed to hover over him." For hours the result of 
the battle was undecided. But the king of Sweden 
proved more than a match for Tilly, and the shades of 
evening saw the invincible army of Tilly completely 
defeated, leaving seven thousand dead on the field, and 
five thousand wounded and prisoners, and all their 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 2$ I 

artillery and one hundred standards in the hands of the 
Swedes. The next day Gustavus captured five thou- 
sand more of the retreating army. Though the army 
of Tilly was driven south by their victorious conqueror, 
it was constantly receiving fresh supplies and reinforce- 
ments. At last he took his stand on the banks of the 
river Lech, near the town of Rhain, believing that he 
could hold that place against any army that the king of 
Sweden could bring. Even the bravest veterans ad- 
vised Gustavus Adolphus not to attempt to cross this 
rapid river. But nothing could change the resolution 
of the king. "What!" said he; ''have we crossed 
the Baltic, and so many great rivers, and shall we now 
be checked by a brook like the Lech ? " He opened a 
fire on the enemy from seventy-two field-pieces. By 
burning wood and wet straw, he so enveloped his men 
in smoke that a bridge over the river was largely done 
before the enemy knew it was begun, and then they 
were unable to prevent its completion. The bridge 
was finished under their own eyes. Gustavus kept 
alive the courage of his men by his own example, dis- 
charging over sixty cannon with his own hand. Tilly 
also did everything to encourage his men, until he 
received a mortal wound from a cannon-ball. Before 
the Swedish army had crossed the Lech, the enemy 
were retreating. When Gustavus Adolphus saw the 
impregnable position they had left, he said: **Had I 
been the Bavarian, though a cannon-ball had carried 
away my beard and chin, never would I have aban- 
doned a position like this." All of Bavaria was now 
open to him, and he went where he pleased. These 
two great victories had no bad efifect on Gustavus 
Adolphus. If possible, he became more courageous 



252 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

and tolerant. If we see in him more confidence, it is a 
confidence free from pride and trusting in Heaven. 
Such confidence is always the parent of great deeds. 
Though frequently urged by German princes to avenge 
Magdeburg, he turned a deaf ear to all such sugges- 
tions. 

The Emperor was now sorely perplexed. A victo- 
rious enemy was in his country, his great general dead, 
his army scattered, and his people discouraged. Wal- 
lenstein, at the urgent request of political enemies, had 
been dismissed by the Emperor. Wishing to take 
revenge on the Emperor, he tried to form an alHance 
with the Swedes ; but Gustavus Adolphus had no con- 
fidence In his sincerity. Wallenstein was a man of 
great wealth, and wealth brings friends. These friends 
now urged Ferdinand to give him the command of the 
army again. They said if Wallenstein had commanded, 
this state of things would not have been. 

Wallenstein, * ' who was nothing, if he was not every- 
thing,'^ would not act unless he had unlimited power in 
all things. He refused to let any one share with him 
in organizing or directing the army. When it was sug- 
gested that the King of Hungary remain with the 
army, and from Wallenstein learn the art of war, * * No, 
never," exclaimed Wallenstein, *'will I submit to a 
colleague in my ofBce. No, not even if it were God 
himself, with whom I should have to share my com- 
mand. " 

At last the Emperor was compelled to give him 
absolute command of the army. He soon had a large 
army ready for action. The Catholics everywhere took 
fresh courage. Protestants watched his movements 
with anxiety. 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 253 

It was early in November, 1632, that the army of 
Wallenstein and that of Gustavus Adolphus met near 
Lutzen. When Wallenstein reviewed his army before 
the battle, knowing that it was much superior to the 
army of Sweden, he boastfully said : * * In four days it 
will be shown whether I or the King of Sweden is to 
be master of the world." For fifteen days the armies 
faced each other, each afraid to make the attack. At 
Erfurt, where Luther found the Bible, Gustavus Adol- 
phus said farewell to his Queen, who was never to see 
him again until she saw him in his coffin. Everywhere 
he went, the people, as well as the soldiers, knelt be- 
fore him, striving to touch the hem of his garment. 
The soldiers honored him as the great hero ; the people 
welcomed him as their deliverer. "I am afraid," said 
he, ''that Heaven will send me some misfortune, for 
this people honor me as a god." Never did his 
motives seem so pure, his conduct so grand, his hu- 
mility so great, and his character so noble, as on the 
morning of his last day on earth. Early in the morn- 
ing the army was called together for prayer. Then 
Luther's Psalm was sung ; after this, a hymn composed 
by Gustavus Adolphus, called "Fear not, thou little 
flock. " 

*'Now, " said the King, "I believe that God has 
given the enemy into my hands." In the beginning of 
the battle, Gustavus threw his right wing upon the left 
of the enemy with such force that it fled in confusion 
from the field. But seeing the center of his army 
being pushed by the superior numbers of the enemy, 
he hastened to rally them. While doing this his arm 
was shattered ; then he was shot through the back. 
** Brother," said he to the Duke of Luneburg, '*I 



254 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

have enough; look only to your own life." Just at 
this moment several shots pierced his body, and he fell 
lifeless from his horse. The mournful tidings spread 
through the army, and increased, rather than de- 
stroyed, the courage of the Swedes. They rushed 
with all the fury of Avild beasts upon the foe. Bernard 
took command for the remainder of the day, and '^the 
spirit of Gustavus led his victorious squadrons anew," 
although Pappenheim came up with a new army, and 
the battle was fought over again. At the close of the 
day Pappenheim, the bravest soldier of Austria, lay 
dead, and Piccolomini had received six wounds. The 
Swedes held the field. Of the two armies, nine 
thousand lay dead, and about twice as many were 
wounded. 

Fourteen years of this dreadful war had passed, and 
sixteen more were yet to come. Most frightful was 
the condition of the people of Europe, especially dur- 
ing the last years of the war. Famine stared them in 
the face. Education and religion were almost forgot- 
ten. All bonds of society were broken. When 
Elijah was called from his labors below to rest above, 
his mantle fell upon another, who carried on the work 
of God. So, at the death of Gustavus, his mantle fell 
on others. There was something in this hero that bul- 
lets could not kill. From the day of his death he be- 
came the ideal hero of the soldier and general on the 
battle-field, and of the citizen and statesman at home. He 
seemed to become an invisible presence that nerved his 
people for their grandest efforts, and saved them from 
their greatest perils. In such a large degree was this 
true that, a year after his death, the Swedish armies 
were victorious everywhere. We shall not follow the 



THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 255 

details of this tragic war any farther, for, although 
many furious battles were fought, they involved no new 
principles. 

Let us keep in mind this fact — that the importance 
and glory of the ** Thirty Years' War " is this: that at 
its close the principles of religious freedom were more 
nearly triumphant than they had ever been before. No 
one thinks now of calling on the civil authorities to 
help to crush heresy by the use of the sword, racks, 
and consuming fire. Why ? The answer is this : That 
those who pleaded and fought for religious toleration 
during this war were triumphant. It was a war that 
made another war like it an impossibility. 

Gustavus Adolphus was the undoubted hero of his 
age. There were other great and good men ; but, like 
Saul, who was head and shoulders above the people, so 
the King of Sweden was above all others in goodness 
and greatness. His virtues were magnetic and con- 
tagious. He drew men to him, and transformed them 
into his own image. Cowards became brave in his 
presence. Under his influence, licentious men became 
pure, and remained so. No success ever intoxicated 
him. Victories increased his humility, rather than his 
pride. No cruelty practiced by his enemies ever 
tempted him to retaliate. He was as much a statesman 
as a conqueror. "With the sword in one hand and 
mercy in the other, he traversed Germany as a conquer- 
or, a lawgiver, and a judge." In all his public and 
private life, in the letters he wrote and the addresses he 
delivered, we do not hear of a single word or act that 
looks like dissimulation or hypocrisy. The words and 
acts of this noble man shine with straightforward hon- 
esty. Whether his life would have continued as pure 



256 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

and blameless had he lived longer, we can not tell. 
As it is, the words of Schiller are true : * ' He is the 
first and only just conqueror the world has produced — 
one who never forgot moderation in the intoxication of 
success, or justice in the plenitude of power." 



JOHN KNOX. 257 



LECTURE XX. 

JOHN KNOX AND THE PURITANS. 

It is doubtful whether in the distant or the near past 
there was ever a poHtical or reHgious party against which 
so much has been said as against the Puritans. Many- 
people would be blind to the good qualities of a person 
or a movement if they thought there was any Puritan- 
ism about him or it. The secular and religious press, the 
stump speaker and the preacher, have all had something 
to say against the Puritans. From a * * Puritan Sabbath " 
and "Puritan Blue Laws," we are apt to say, "Good 
Lord, deliver us." When one has something to utter 
against sinful amusements, or any of the vices of the 
day, he is very likely to say : " I want it distinctly under- 
stood that I am no Puritan." Any attempt to suppress 
foul literature is called a Puritan measure. Whisky 
men say of temperance reforms and laws, that it is an 
attempt to revive Puritan customs. In short, most per- 
sons look upon the Puritans much as they do on 
the Pharisees in the time of Christ, and think of them 
as hypocrites, bigots, the representatives of cant and 
dogmatism. Yet, there can be no doubt that England 
and this country, both religiously and politically, are 
greatly indebted to the Puritans. They purified Eng- 
lish laws, religion and literature. What, then, is 
Puritanism? Who were the Puritans? 

Puritanism is a strong, rough oak, that grew on 
English soil. The acorn that produced that oak was 
planted in the days of Wycliffe. Though Wycliffe's 



258 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

bones were burned, his writings condemned, his fol- 
lowers persecuted, the principles that he advocated 
continued to work like leaven. His spotless life, his 
brave words against immorality, his ringing protests 
against Rome, had not only shaken the confidence 
of the English people in the Church of Rome, but 
what was better, had created in them a desire for a 
purer faith. Then came Henry VHI., the ''Blue- 
Beard" of English history, of whom it might have 
been said, as it was of Herod the Great, ''Better be 
Herod's pig than Herod's wife." This Henry had six 
wives ; he divorced two of them, and cut off the heads 
of two. They were political rather than religious mo- 
tives that caused Henry to break away from Rome. In 
1532, the king married Anne Boleyn, in defiance of 
the Church of Rome. In 1534, the "Act of Su- 
premacy" was confirmed by Parliament, and from this 
has grown the Church of England. With the king 
it was chiefly the desire to have his own way ; but with 
Thomas Cromwell and others, a desire to return to 
a purer faith. During the short reign of Edward VI., 
the "prayer-book " was made. Few felt that the Re- 
formation was complete. Then came Queen Mary, 
and England went back to Romanism. Many were 
cast into prison, others burned, and multitudes fled 
from the kingdom, and were welcomed at Frankfort 
and Geneva. At the death of Mary, these exiles 
returned. Calvin had had a great influence upon 
them; they were impressed with the necessity of a 
stricter discipline, a purer doctrine, a more thorough 
reformation. They insisted on making the gulf be- 
tween England and Rome as wide as possible. These 
reformers, as they called themselves, soon came in con- 



JOHN KNOX. 259 

flict with those who were satisfied with the prayer- 
book of Edward VI., and wished to retain the ritual 
and many doctrines of Rome. Those who claimed 
that the English Reformation was not complete, and 
insisted on a simpler form of worship and purer morals, 
began now to be called Puritans. It was a nickname 
given to them by their enemies. "Such as refused," 
says Fuller, "to conform and subscribe to the liturgy, 
ceremonies and discipline of the Church were branded 
by the bishops with the odious name of Puritans." 
They were the dissenters from the Church of England. 
Hume divides them into three classes: Puritans in 
discipline, Puritans in doctrine, and Puritans in politics. 
Carlyle says that "Puritanism was the attempt to bring 
the divine law of the Bible into actual practice in men's 
affairs on earth." Martin tells us that " they actually 
believed in God, just as much as if the evidence of 
things not seen stood demonstrated before their eyes. 
They calculated on God as the astronomers calculate 
on the motion of the stars." Thus believing in God, 
they were able to make others believe. Among them 
were not a few clear, resolute, incisive thinkers, and 
the personality of God was the great point in their 
thinking, as it has been with all men and movements 
that have stirred society to its depths. A man or 
woman who really believes in God, is a great power 
in any age or country. The strength and the glory of 
Puritanism, like that of David, of Paul, of Luther, was 
its faith in God. Its weakness consisted in forgetting 
that the Son of God was also the Son of man. It de- 
based man ; in its theology there was little that was 
gentle, or sweet, or kind. It was but half truth. Its 
history is a history of "grants sane and grants gone 



260 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

mad." Yet we say, with Whittier, *' Glory to God for 
the Puritan." 

It must be remembered that neither Romanist, 
Churchman, nor Puritan beHeved in reHgious toleration 
at this time, or for some time after this. Each believed 
that it was the duty of the Church to denounce, and 
the State to punish, any difference of opinion. All 
parties believed in calling in the secular arm to compel 
men to believe and practice the same things. Oliver 
Cromwell was the first Puritan who grasped the idea of 
religious toleration, and taught it to Church and State. 
Here Queen Elizabeth, who welcomed the persecuted 
Huguenots and Hollanders, said: "Sink the island, 
but perish Puritanism ; " nor would she allow any one 
to teach school or preach who would not subscribe to 
the prayer-book. To the French ambassador she said : 
' ' I will maintain the religion in which I was crowned 
and baptized ; and I will suppress the Romish religion, 
that it shall not grow ; but as for Puritanism, I will 
root it out.'' In the eyes of this Protestant queen, 
Puritanism was more dangerous and wicked than 
Romanism. 

JOHN KNOX. 

The Puritans needed a leader to organize and direct 
them. In John Knox, of Scotland, they found such a 
leader. He was born in 1505. He was twenty-two 
years younger than Luther, and four years older than 
Calvin. In mind and spirit he resembled Augustine, 
Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards, He was a thoughtful, 
studious boy, and became a stern and serious man. 
His mind developed slowly ; he did not begin to preach 
or write until after he was forty. He shrank from 



JOHN KNOX. , 261 

all public service. Friends could not induce him to 
preach, and when told that the church had called him 
to that work, he burst into tears, and rushed out of the 
house. When the French took the Castle of St. 
Andrews, Knox was among the prisoners. He was 
taken to France, and for nineteen months worked as 
a galley-slave. Though sick most of the time, and 
treated in the most inhuman manner, nothing crushed 
his spirit; in the darkest hour hope shone like a 
star. He was often asked if he thought God would 
ever deliver them, and his answer always was, that 
**God would deliver them from this bondage for His 
glory, even in this life." When at last freedom was 
obtained, his ability was recognized, and he became 
one of the court-preachers to Edward VI. But he was 
compelled to seek shelter in Geneva when Mary began 
her bloody work. At her death he returned to Scot- 
land, and more than any other person made it a Pro- 
testant country. He was the father of Protestantism 
in Scotland. When, in 1560, the Parliament of Scot- 
land asked for a confession of faith, Knox was called to 
prepare it. His influence was felt in every part of the 
country. He was more powerful than an army with 
banners. After hearing one of his sermons, the Eng- 
lish ambassador wrote : **He put more life into us 
than six hundred trumpets all blowing at once." 

When Mary Stuart came to the throne of Scotland, 
she determined to restore the Romish religion, and pre- 
pared to celebrate high mass the first Sunday after her 
arrival. The country was excited and alarmed. Knox 
said in his pulpit that "one mass was more fearful 
to him than if ten thousand soldiers were landed in 
any part of the realm for the purpose of suppressing 



262 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

the whole rehgion." He was summoned to appear 
before the queen. She charged him with stirring up 
the people against her. He bravely defended himself; 
and ''here, "says Carlyle, ''more than elsewhere, 
proves himself. He refuses to soften any expression, 
or, in short, for one moment to forget that the eternal 
God and His word are great, and that all else is little or 
as nothing ; nay, if it set itself against the Most High 
and His word, it is the one frightful thing that this 
world exhibits. He is never the least ill-tempered 
with her majesty ; but she can not move him from the 
fixed center of all his thoughts and actions. Do the 
will of God, and tremble at nothing." When the 
queen found that she could no longer argue with him, 
she said : " I will defend the Church of Rome, for it is, 
I think, the true Church of God." Knox replied: 
' ' Your willy madame, is no reason, neither doth your 
thought make the harlot of Rome to be the true 
and immaculate spouse of Christ." "My conscience 
is not so," said the queen. "Conscience, madame, 
requires knowledge, and I fear that right knowledge 
you have none." "But I have both heard and read." 
"So, madame, did the Jews who crucified Christ." 
"You interpret the scriptures one way," said Mary, 
"and the priests another; whom shall I believe?" 
"You shall believe God," replied the Puritan, "who 
plainly speaketh in His word above your majesty 
and the most learned priests of all Europe." "I 
can never be quit of you," said the queen ; "I vow to 
God I will be revenged." After this she burst into 
tears. To quote Carlyle again: "The grand Italian 
Dante is not more in earnest than Knox. There is 
in him throughout the spirit of an old Hebrew prophet, 



THE PURITANS. 26$ 

such as may have been in Moses in the desert at 
the sight of the burning bush ; a spirit almost altogether 
unique among modern men." 

Knox died in 1572, and as his body was lowered into 
the grave, Regent Morton very truthfully said : * * There 
lies he who never feared the face of man." 

One who studied the Reformation for years says 
that "Scotch Puritanism, well considered, seems to 
me distinctly the noblest and completest form that the 
grand sixteenth century Reformation anywhere as- 
sumed." 

THE PURITANS DURING THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 

James of Scotland, who became King of England 
z.t the death of Elizabeth, had been raised and educated 
under the strictest Presbyterian influence. He had 
often said that he thanked God that he was the king of 
the Scotch Church, the purest church in all the world. 
The Puritans of England hailed his coming with great 
delight. But soon their joy was turned into sorrow. 
There was nothing In Puritanism that suited his tastes or 
his ambition. He was learned and witty, pedantic, 
conceited, cowardly, mean, intemperate, and profane. 
In short, there was nothing grand or noble in his char- 
acter. Henry IV., of P' ranee, said he was the wisest 
fool in Christendom. Marsden says he was * ' an 
habitual swearer, a drunkard, and a liar; " and accord- 
ing to *Macaulay, * ' he was stammering, slobbering, 
talking alternately in the style of a buffoon and of a 
pedagogue. He reduced England from a monarchy of 
the first rank, which it had attained under Elizabeth, to 
a secondary order, and introduced the despotic, hypo- 
critical, and semi-popish succession of the Stuarts, 



264 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORiMERS. 

which provoked the Puritan rebellion, and indirectly 
led to the colonization of New England and the tri- 
umph of toleration in Old England." This was the 
man that both the bishops and the Church of England 
and the Puritans turned out to meet. At the first con- 
ference he does not admit Puritans. He lets the 
bishops know that he sees in Puritanism a dangerous 
democratic tendency. *'No bishop, no king," is his 
firm belief; and he still farther delighted them by say- 
ing that a ' ' Scotch presbytery agrees as well with a 
monarchy as God with the devil.'* At this. Archbishop 
Whitgift was so delighted that he cried out: ** Un- 
doubtedly your majesty speaks by the special assist- 
ance of God's Spirit." Another said that *'the king 
appears as the sun in his strength." He soon decides 
that the Puritans "are insufferable in any well-governed 
commonwealth." Said he: **I will make them con- 
form, or else I will harry them out of the land, or else 
do worse." By doing worse, he meant to hang or 
burn them. This was his short method with dissenters. 
At last the Puritans succeeded in getting a hearing 
before the king. It took place early in 1604, at Hamp- 
ton Court. The Puritans were represented by that 
great scholar and pure man, Dr. Raynolds. The king 
turned a deaf ear to their suggestions and requests, 
except that there should be a new translation of the 
Bible. This he granted. For that book, which is 
called King James's Bible, we are indebted to the Puri- 
tans rather than to this king. For, as Dr. Schaff says : 
*' He never spent a penny on the work, he never owned 
or authorized it, and left it to its natural fate." It was 
during the reign of James that a reformation began 
among the Puritans. These reformers were led by 



THE PURITANS. 265 

a man whose name was Henry Jacob, and they were 
called Independents. They taught the sufficiency of the 
Scriptures in all things, and denied the authority of 
creeds and human traditions. It must also be remem- 
bered that while this immoral king was persecuting 
these Puritans, the heroic Robinson led a small band of 
pilgrims to Leyden, in Holland, and that these, in 
1620, came on the Mayflower to this country. 

CONCLUSION. 

In studying the rise and history of the Pharisees In 
the Jewish Church, and the Puritans in England and 
this country, one is struck with the numerous points of 
resemblance between these two parties. Each was a 
gradual development. It is not easy to tell exactly 
where either began. When the Jewish exiles returned 
from their seventy years' captivity in Babylon, they 
brought with them many heathen customs. They were 
careless about observing the Jewish law. Then there 
arose a few men who believed in God, and were zealous 
for the law. They punished promptly and severely 
those who transgressed the law of Moses. Ezra and 
Nehemiah were the Puritans of that day. After the 
days of Nehemiah, there was a zealous party who sat 
in Moses' seat, who set their faces against all heathen 
innovations, and protested against all immoral conduct. 
As years passed, they came to be called Pharisees — 
''the separated," as the word denotes. Then came the 
revolt of the Maccabees. Judas Maccabaeus aroused 
the people, saying: *' We fight for our lives and our 
laws." They drove their enemies from the temple, 
and, after most desperate fighting, cast off the Syrian 
yoke, and the Jews were once more a free people. 



266 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

This was the golden age of Pharisaism. Then they be- 
gan to degenerate, until in the time of Christ they had 
become a bitter, narrow sect. Faith had gone ; super- 
stition had taken its place. That party that once 
struck sturdy blows for freedom, now led men into 
slavery, and put on their shoulders burdens grievous to 
be borne. Once those who became Pharisees ceased 
to do evil and learned to do well ; now their converts 
became the children of hell. Once they defended the 
poor and oppressed ; now they devoured widows' 
houses. What the Maccabees were to the Pharisees, 
Cromwell was to the Puritans. Then came the age of 
decay, which went on until the glory had departed en- 
tirely from Puritanism. 

Puritanism was conceived in the days of Wyclifife ; 
born in the reign of Mary ; was a boy of promise in 
the reign of Elizabeth ; during the reign of James was 
a strong young man, buckling on his armor; in the 
days of Cromwell, it was a mighty giant, before whom 
none could stand; after this it became a feeble old 
man, crabbed and cross. Puritanism has three epochs : 
First, that of a stern morality and a strong faith ; dur- 
ing this period the ablest opponent of Rome and the 
most earnest advocate of an open Bible and a pure 
faith. We are indebted to it for those two great trans- 
lations of the Bible, the ''Geneva Version" and 
** King James' Version." Then came the golden age, 
and the Mayflower, freighted with a courageous little 
band, whose hearts God had fired with a holy zeal, 
sailed across the Atlantic ; and although they landed 
on a barren shore, where, in a few months, half their 
number died, still the few suffering ones who were 
left had strength enough to say : * ' Father, not our 



THE PURITANS. 26/ 

will, but Thine, be done." Then came Cromwell and 
his Ironsides, with drawn sword in one hand and an 
open Bible in the other, causing Rome to tremble, 
shattering idols, and smiting the divine right of kings. 
Then it had fulfilled its mission, and its light went out. 
From the days of Knox to Cromwell, it was strong, 
vigorous, and manly. In its ranks were the giant 
minds of England and Scotland — men of the purest 
life and the holiest zeal. Its hatred of Rome, its moral 
earnestness and love for the Bible, it received from 
John Wycliffe ; its theology came from Calvin ; its 
greatest religious leader was John Knox ; its military 
hero and champion of human rights was Oliver Crom- 
well. And although Puritanism has accomplished its 
mission, and will never appear again, there is the same 
need in every age and country for earnest men who be- 
lieve in God and His word — men who desire, above all 
other things, to do what God wants them to do, and to 
be what He wants them to be. 



268 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XXI. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF CROMWELL. 

''Paint me as I am, or I'll not give you a shilling-," 
said Oliver Cromwell, to the man who was painting his 
portrait, and was endeavoring not to show the ugly 
wart on his face. This little anecdote gives one a 
better idea of Cromwell's character than many long es- 
says that have been written for that purpose. Crom- 
well was a blunt, honest man, who hated falsehood 
and hypocrisy with a perfect hatred. If he were living 
now, he would demand of every one who should 
attempt to portray his character the same honest work 
that he required of the painter : ' ' Paint me as I am — 
my vices as well as my virtues ; put down not only my 
righteous acts, but my sins ; tell of my failures, as well 
as of my successes ; show not only my strength, but my 
weakness also." But the man who painted his portrait 
had a small task, compared with the one who attempts 
to give a true picture of Cromwell's life and character, 
and shall help others to understand what he was and 
what he did for his age and for all coming ages, with- 
out covering his faults, exaggerating his virtues, or 
doing injustice to others. It is always difficult to learn 
the truth about any one who is a leader in stormy 
times. Take any of the men who are likely to become 
candidates for the office of President, and it will be no 
small task to find out from the political papers what are 
their motives, their ability, and character. Remember 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 269 

that party strife and sectarian bitterness were never 
more furious than during the hfe of Cromwell. Re- 
member, also, that he was a rehgious as well as a polit- 
ical leader, at a time when party plotted against party, 
and **sect raved against sect." It was a transition pe- 
riod in the history of England, and a mighty revolution 
was going on. With these facts before us, we are not 
so astonished when we learn from his friends that of all 
born of woman, a better man or a greater man than 
Cromwell never appeared ; while his enemies assure us 
that he possessed the spirit of Lucifer himself, and that 
in power to accomplish evil, was second only to that 
arch-fiend. Southey would have us believe that he 
was an ambitious hypocrite, who used means to obtain 
power as vile as those used by Macbeth. Hume hated 
him and the cause he represented, and insists that he 
was a fanatic and a hypocrite of the worst kind. With 
Southey and Hume most of the earlier writers on this 
subject agree. But the view which was once generally 
accepted is now almost universally rejected. No au- 
thors have done as much to present Cromwell in a true 
light, and change public opinion with regard to him, as 
Macaulay and Carlyle. Macaulay is never more earn- 
est or more eloquent than when his theme is Cromwell. 
He insists that his ambition was lofty, his powers were 
great, his motives pure ; that he gave to England a 
constitution far more perfect than any which had at 
that time been known to the world, and that he is 
worthy to be compared with Washington. Carlyle's 
work can hardly be called a biography, but by carefully 
collecting his numerous letters and speeches, being at 
the same time particular to show the time and the cir- 
cumstances that called them forth, he has furnished the 



2/0 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

best material for the student of Cromwell's life and age 
to study. If we are to believe Hood, no name in all 
history stands forth more transparent, clear and consist- 
ent throughout — the most royal name in English 
history, rivaling in its splendor that of Elizabeth, out- 
shining the proudest names of Norman, Plantagenet, 
or Tudor. 

Whatever may be our view of Cromwell, one thing 
is certain : that no period in English history is of such 
interest and importance to an American, as the age in 
which he lived. What William of Orange did for Hol- 
land, what Gustavus Adolphus did for Germany, was 
done for England by Oliver Cromwell, although Crom- 
well was a very different man from either William or 
Gustavus ; for of the great men of earth, they were 
two of the most lovely characters. One is never called 
upon to apologize for anything they said or did. Not 
so with Cromwell. It is easier to admire than to love 
him. He is great, but not lovable. He resembles 
Luther in spirit and Calvin in theology. 

Cromwell was born in 1599. His mother was a 
Stuart, and belonged to the royal family of Scotland, 
and in this way he was related to Charles I. The 
Cromwell family first became famous during the reign 
of Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell, the friend of 
Wolsey, was an able statesman and a zealous reformer, 
who was the means of bringing out one of the early 
translations of the Bible, which is still known as Crom- 
well's Bible. It was this man, according to Shake- 
speare, to whom Wolsey said : 

Cromwell, I charge thee : fling away ambition. 
By that sin fell the angels. 
O Cromwell, Cromwell, 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 2/1 

Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king, He would not in mine age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies. 

This Thomas Cromwell was a distant relative of 
OHver's. The father of Oliver Cromwell died when 
his son was eighteen years of age, at which time Oliver 
left college and returned no more. At the age of 
twenty-one he married a prudent and amiable wife, to 
whom he was faithful, and with whom he was happy. 
He then settled on his father's farm, and for ten years 
lived a quiet and uneventful life. His house became 
the home of the most zealous Puritans, who spent their 
time in praying, exhorting, preaching, reading the 
Bible, and discussing the events of the day from a Pu- 
ritan standpoint. In that country home a greater char- 
acter was forming than any one dreamed of 

It may be well to notice some of the events that 
occurred during the. early part of his life. Do not 
forget that Cromwell is always just a year older than 
the century. When he was a boy, England was ap- 
proaching a crisis. It was a stirring epoch, that called 
in thunder tones to all who loved their country or their 
religion, to quit themselves like men and be strong. 
How well we remember what we heard or read when 
we were children ! What a deep impression the events 
of childhood made upon us. They did so much toward 
creating our tastes and forming our characters. Look 
for a moment at some of the events that occurred 
when Cromwell was a boy, and were discussed around 
his fireside by those stern old Puritans, and think what 
an impression they would make on him. He was four 
years of age when Elizabeth died. He was six when 
all England was startled by the discovery of the gun- 



2/2 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

powder plot. Think how this event was discussed by 
Puritan soldiers and theologians, who believed that the 
Pope was antichrist, the Church of Rome the harlot 
of Revelations, and the Jesuits devils incarnate from 
the lowest hell. And think, too, how an intelligent 
boy like Cromwell would listen, with eyes and ears 
wide open. How well I remember, when a boy, the 
murder of a lady school-teacher not far from our home. 
It was in my thoughts by day and dreams by night for 
weeks, and to-day it is all clear before my mind ; and 
still it seems to me a more horrible murder than any I 
have since read about. Things and events seem large 
and Important, out of all proportion, to a child. We 
go back to our old home ; houses and trees seem to 
have grown smaller ; what seemed to us, as children, a 
great distance, is really but a few steps ; hills that 
seemed like mountains are hardly hills. I never visit 
Albion without the first impression being that all the 
buildings, and the church-houses especially, have 
shrunken wonderfully since I was a boy. But the 
things that the boy Cromwell saw and heard were really 
large. He had reached the age of eleven when Henry 
of Navarre was assassinated, and it seemed to many 
that the last great prop of the Protestant cause In 
Europe was gone. He was twelve when our present 
English Bible was translated. 

This translation was especially dear to the Puritans ; 
for, if it had not been for their urgent requests, it 
would never have been made. Then, too, the Bible 
was the one Book to them ; few tears would they 
have shed if every other book In the world had been 
destroyed. May he not have felt as another had long 
before, as daily this new translation was read and 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 2/3 

talked over : ** I must be about my Father's business " ? 
He entered college April twenty-third, i6i6. On that 
very day Ann Hathaway was weeping at the death-bed 
of Shakespeare. He was nineteen when the Thirty 
Years' War began. What food for the thoughts of a 
boy did it furnish, as it swept on through blood to a 
glorious conclusion ! When Harvey announced his 
great discovery of the circulation of the blood, Crom- 
well was twenty ; and In the same year Kepler, upon 
discovering the true law of planetary motion, shouted : 
**I thank thee, O God, that I think my thoughts after 
Thee." But there was another event belonging to that 
year that would make a far deeper impression on Crom- 
well than either of these. It was the bringing to the 
scaffold of that fine old English gentleman, Sir Walter 
Raleigh. O, sad hour for England, when Spanish 
gold and Jesuit influence could do so much. John 
EHot saw Raleigh die, and never forgave it. He was 
twenty-one when that band of Pilgrims who were seek- 
ing a kingdom that could not be moved, sailed on the 
Mayflower. I think it was Wendell Phillips who said 
that Lord Bacon marches down the centuries with one 
hand on the telegraph and the other on the steam- 
engine, saying: "These are mine, for I taught you to 
invent. " It was the same Lord Bacon who, when a boy, 
was asked by Elizabeth how old he was, and attract- 
ed her attention by answering: "Two years younger 
than your Majesty's happy reign." Cromwell was 
twenty-seven when Bacon died. He was thirty-two, 
living a quiet life on his farm, pondering seriously over 
all these things, trying hard to find out their meaning 
and to know what he should do, when he heard that 
John Eliot, who had been a terror to pirates on the sea 



274 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

and tyrants on the land, had died in the Tower, a mar- 
tyr to the cause of hberty. It was in this same year 
that Gustavus Adolphus fell at Lutzen, victorious still 
in death. Cromwell was two years older than Roger 
Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, and nine years 
older than the poet Milton. Baxter, the author of 
**The Saint's Rest," was sixteen years younger than 
Cromwell. He was twenty-five when George Fox, the 
founder of the Quakers, was born, and twenty-nine 
when the immortal dreamer, John Bunyan, was an 
infant. 

But, to understand Cromwell, we must know some- 
thing of his theology, as well as of the men and events 
of his day. ** He lived in one of those solemn periods 
which determine the character of ages to come." 
Cromwell's ideas of God and religion were drawn much 
more from the Old Testament than from the New. He 
believed in treating all God's enemies as Samuel treated 
Agag when he hewed him in pieces. He felt as the 
Psalmist did when he wrote : * ' I hate them that hate 
Thee, with a perfect hatred." I do not think that 
what Christ said about the treatment of enemies, and 
his prayer for his murderers, ever had any influence 
over Cromwell. 

He passed through a terrible season of gloom, dark- 
ness and doubt. There were nights and days and 
months when he was on the verge of despair. He was 
pondering the great questions of sin, and God, and 
human destiny. How many of whom the world was not 
worthy have had an experience like this, and have come 
out of it strong to do and endure ! Nearly four thou- 
sand years ago, Abraham was so impressed with the 
thought of God, and that other thought that always 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 275 

comes with it and never without it, namely, duty, that 
he gave up everything to seek for himself and others a 
home, with God. What years of pondering over Hfe's 
greatest problems; what days and nights of commun- 
ion with God ; what struggles with inclination that 
brought self-knowledge and self-control, had Moses in 
the wilderness and on the mount ! Elijah, Paul, Lu- 
ther, Bunyan — was not the same true of them all? 
And was there not a greater and a holier One than any 
of these, who passed through a most terrible conflict 
in the wilderness with things visible and invisible, dur- 
ing which He was urged to give up the future for the 
present, the soul for the body, the right for glory and 
power; a conflict with great doubts, that were ever 
whispering, ''If thou be the Son"? Yet from that 
conflict He came, the strongest of the strong, with a 
purpose as fixed as the polar star, a courage calm and 
unfaltering, and a faith henceforth never to be dis- 
turbed by doubts. It was a conflict not altogether un- 
like this that Cromwell had — that, I think, most have 
at one time or another, who find out the real meaning 
of life. '*A great mind, " says Schiller, ** labors for 
eternity." We talk of eternity; to Cromwell it was 
more real than time. To many God is not much more 
than a name ; to him, a presence nearer than the near- 
est friend, and more powerful than a thousand armies. 
Would that all might be led to believe in God, not as a 
figure of speech, but as a most awful fact, and yet one 
full of hope. 



2^6 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XXII. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF CROMWELL. 

The chief object of these historic sketches is to 
show what was said and done, suffered and endured, by 
those who were determined to secure intellectual and 
religious freedom for themselves and others. Cromwell 
has been chosen, not because he is faultless, or because 
we can endorse all that he did, but because he was the 
great champion of civil and religious freedom in the 
seventeenth century — a man of the strongest convic- 
tions, and not afraid to follow them wheresoever they 
reached ; a man of firm opinions, and yet, for his age, 
tolerant of the opinions of others. 

CROMWELL IN PARLIAMENT. 

In 1628, he was elected a member of Parliament. 
During the first year he was a close observer, but said 
nothing. In February, 1629, he made a short speech, 
in which he said : ' * Dr. Alabaster had preached flat 
popery at Paul's Cross, for which he had been com- 
mended, and granted a living by the bishop." And 
he asked: "If these are the steps to church prefer- 
ment, what are we to expect?" These are the first 
public utterances of a man who, in a few years, was to 
"arrest the sails of Libyan pirates and the persecuting 
fires of Rome." Charles, being unable to manage this 
Parliament, dissolved it, and for eleven years there was 
no Parliament, during which time Cromwell lived on 
his farm, saying little, but thinking a good deal. In 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 2// 

Church and State things were growing worse every 
day. **The king of England and his chief priests," 
says Carlyle, **were going one way; the nation of 
England, by eternal laws, was going another ; the split 
became too wide for healing." During these years 
Laud, rather than the king, governed England. The 
Puritans began to believe that he intended to betray 
the country to Rome. Bishop Hall wrote to Laud, 
saying: ** I would I knew where to find you. To-day 
you are with Rome, to-morrow with us ; our adversa- 
ries think you are ours, we think you are theirs." 
Hume does not think it any wonder that the Puritans 
everywhere regarded Laud as a forerunner of anti- 
christ. Whether he was trying to make England a 
Roman Catholic country or not, one thing is certain: 
Catholics were shown many favors, and admitted to 
high offices, while the Puritans were turned out of 
office everywhere, and were also forbidden to teach or 
preach. The Dutch and Huguenot churches, to which 
Elizabeth and James had granted the privilege to hold 
their own services, were ordered to worship according 
to the forms of the Church of England, or quit the 
country. Puritans were arrested in various places for 
preaching or writing tracts. Many of them had their 
ears cut off, and were condemned to prison for life. 
Bostwick's wife encouraged him to endure his suffer- 
ings ; and when his ears were cut off on the scaffold, 
she received them, and kissed them. When a man 
with a dull knife was sawing off the ears of Prynne, he 
exclaimed: ''Cut me, tear me; I fear thee not; I 
fear the fires of hell, not thee." 

All this time Cromwell was on his farm, with his 
wife and children, selling cattle, draining low lands. 



2/8 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

waiting, ready to act whenever the call should come. 
He had thoughts above his farm, and thoughts that ran 
far into the future. He was thinki"ng about his home 
at St. Ives ; and another home, also, that was more to 
him than all else. In a letter written in those dark and 
threatening days, he says: ** My soul is with the con- 
gregation of the firstborn ; my body rests in hope ; 
and if here I may honor my God, either by doing or 
suffering, I shall be most glad." Every day the bur- 
den of taxes became heavier ; everything was taxed ; 
persecution became more bitter ; the king and the peo- 
ple were getting farther apart. Many worse men have 
lived than Charles I. It is not difficult to point out his 
good qualities. But he could not read the signs of the 
times. He spent his life in resisting public opinion, 
and finally lost his life In an insane fight with the spirit 
of the age. He tried to enforce laws and customs that 
the people had outgrown. 

CROMWELL AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 

In 1640, a Parliament was called, of which Crom- 
well was a member; but, not being able to manage 
them, the king sent them home in three weeks; but 
soon called another, which was the famous Long Parlia- 
ment. The election, all through the country, was 
exciting. Cromwell had only a .majority of one. 
**That vote," said his opponent, **has ruined both 
Church and Kingdom." The leader of this Parlia- 
ment was Hampden, a cousin of Cromwell's — a 
man of piety and patriotism ; a man of great 
moral purity and intellectual strength ; "almost," says 
Macaulay, * * the solitary instance of a great man who 
neither sought greatness nor shunned it." Baxter 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 2/9 

said, in his ** Saints' Rest," that one of the pleasures 
he hoped to enjoy in heaven was the society of Hamp- 
den. Cromwell soon began to attract attention; and 
none seem to have recognized his power sooner than 
Hampden, who, pointing to Cromwell, one day, said : 
*'If we should come to a breach some day with 
the king — which God forbid — in such a case, I say, 
that man will be the greatest man in England." There 
was little hope of an agreement between the king and 
the Parliament; so it was dissolved. ''The people's 
guns are spiked," said the king's friends. But that 
night Cromwell wrote: "I fear me much that this 
battle is not yet begun." 

Both parties now made vigorous preparations for 
war. Carlyle thinks '"* these were the most confused 
months England ever saw." Cromwell believed that 
great thoughts must be in men who do good fighting ; 
soldiers that fight well must have a high calling and 
holy purpose. Soldiers, he thought, who were con- 
scious that they were the servants of God, would 
sooner or later gain the victory over those who were 
only the servants of man. He would face those who 
were fighting for the king of England with men who 
were fighting for the King of Heaven. ''They are 
men of honor," said he. "We must have men of re- 
ligion — honest men, who make some conscience of 
what they do." Thus Cromwell, with no knowledge 
of war, undertook to raise and discipline an army. He 
drew his sword in defense of what he believed to be the 
cause of freedom and of Christ. He had put his hand 
to the plow, and would not turn back. He said that for 
his part, if he saw the king in the enemy's ranks, he 
would as soon fire at him as at any one, and advised all 



280 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

persons to quit his army at once who did not feel the 
same. The perfect discipUne and the moral purity of 
his soldiers were the wonder of that age. Of them it 
was said: ** Not a man swears but he pays his twelve- 
pence; no plundering, no drinking, disorder or im- 
piety, is allowed." These were the famous Ironsides, of 
whom Cromwell said : ' ' Truly, they were never beaten 
at all." *' If his history had closed," says Foster, 
*'with the raising and disciplining of these men, it 
would have left a sufficient warrant for his greatness to 
posterity." Strange army, this; men reading their 
Bible daily, believing that in it God is speaking directly 
to them ; men praying morning and night, conscious 
that they are talking to the mighty God, who is very 
near ; men who had no doubt but that they were fight- 
ing on God's side — who believed steadily in another 
world, and lived and fought as if standing on the 
threshold of eternity. 

It was on the field of Marston Moor that the ability 
of Cromwell as a soldier first shone forth. There had 
been some small fighting before this, in which the 
king's army had generally been victorious. The great 
Hampden had fallen mortally wounded, and a son of 
Cromwell's had been killed. Of that event Cromwell 
said : ' ' It went to my heart like a dagger ; indeed it 
did." The battle of Marston Moor was fought July 4, 
1644. The king's army was commanded by Prince 
Rupert, the Puritans by Fairfax. Cromwell com- 
manded the left wing. Early in the day Fairfax was 
beaten and chased from the field. But Cromwell's men 
stood firm. He restrained their fiery zeal until he be- 
lieved the hour had come; then said he, ** Charge, in 
the name of the Most High." The Ironsides rushed 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 28 1 

Upon the enemy, and drove them in confusion before 
them, taking their cannons, and turning them upon the 
flying foe ; and before the day closed, the victory was 
complete. Take a few extracts from a letter written by 
Cromwell to Col. Walton, the day after the battle. 
They will help any one to understand the character and 
motives of this man. Walton's son had been killed by 
a cannon-shot: 

'* It is our duty to sympathize in all mercies, and to 
praise the Lord together in all chastisements or trials. 
Truly, England and the Church of God hath great 
favor from the Lord in this great victory given unto us, 
such as the like never was since the war began. It 
had all the evidences of an absolute victory, obtained 
by the Lord's blessing upon the godly party. We 
never charged but we routed the enemy. God made 
them as stubble to our swords. We charged their 
regiments of foot with our horse, and routed all we 
charged. The particulars I can not relate now. Give 
glory, all the glory, to God. Sir, God hath taken 
away your eldest son by a cannon-shot." **Sir, you 
know my own trials in this way; but the Lord 
supported me with this, that the Lord took him into 
the happiness we all pant for and live for. There is 
your precious child full of glory, never to know sin 
or sorrow any more. God give you comfort. Before 
his death he was so full of comfort that to Frank Rus- 
sell and myself he could not express it — '*it was so 
great above his pain." This he said to us. Indeed it 
was admirable. At his fall his horse, being killed with 
a bullet, I am told, he bade them open to the right and 
left, that he might see the rogues run. He was a 
precious young man, fit for God. You have cause to 



282 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

bless the Lord. He is a glorious saint in heaven, 
wherein you ought exceedingly to rejoice. It is a re- 
markable battle throughout." No glorying in what he 
had done, but much of gratitude to God for the vic- 
tory, and a sincere effort to comfort a bereaved friend. 

Nearly a year after this the battle of Naseby was 
fought. Of Cromwell we are told : " He spent much 
of his time with God in prayer the night before." 
During the hottest of the fight he was seen cheering 
his men by these words : ' * God is with us ! God is 
with us ! " Again the king's army was defeated. 
** Who," cried poor Charles, ** will bring me this Crom- 
well, dead or ahve? " 

We can only mention some of the great events that 
came thick and fast. Wherever anything was to be 
done, Cromwell was the man to do it. There was a 
rebellion in Wales. He promptly crushed it ; then 
hastened to the north and defeated a large army. Then 
came the trial and execution of the king, January 30, 
1649. There was trouble in Ireland. Most heartless, 
cruel persecutions were being inflicted on the Prot- 
estants. The Catholic Bishop of Ireland believed there 
was no way of curing these Protestants but by hanging 
and burning. The Parliament desired Cromwell to 
stop these murders; and he went, "followed," says 
Milton, '*by the well wishes of the people and the 
prayers of all good men." He made short, quick 
work. He took the strongest fortified places in the 
country. When the brave O'Neal heard that he had 
taken Tredah, he said : * ' If Cromwell has taken Tre- 
dah, could he storm hell, he would take it also." In 
the midst of this war he tried, in his way, to be a Re- 
former, and published an address, **For the Undeceiv- 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 283 

ing of Deluded and Seduced People." On his return, 
all London turned out to honor him. He was not in 
the least elated. He knew how little there was in such 
things. " See," said one, ** what a crowd has come to 
see your lordship." "Yes, "was his reply ; " but if 
I were to be hanged, how many more there would be ! " 
In 1650, the battle of Dunbar was fought. The 
Scotch army was commanded by Leslie, and was as 
much superior to Cromwell's army in numbers as it was 
inferior in discipline. Cromwell, with eleven thousand, 
was to face a foe numbering twenty-three thousand. 
All save Cromwell lost courage. It was generally be- 
lieved that his good fortune had left him. * ' Hope 
shone in him like a pillar of fire when it had gone out 
in all others." **The Lord will find a way of deliver- 
ance and salvation," he wrote. A cold rain and sleet 
fell all night before the battle. Prayer-meetings were 
held in the English army, and Cromwell went from 
place to place, saying: ** Pray, and keep your powder 
dry." The Scotch made the attack. Cromwell's Iron- 
sides rushed to meet them, singing Psalm cxvii. **The 
Lord has delivered them into our hands," shouted 
Cromwell. Then said he: *'Now let God arise; let 
his enemies be scattered." What was the result? The 
Scotch army was destroyed — three thousand dead on 
the field, ten thousand prisoners. A prayer-meeting 
before a battle, calling upon a nation to» pray for a ref- 
ormation, would have been supremely ridiculous to 
Hume, if he had not thought it was a trick of the 
prince of hypocrites. Hume was mistaken. Crom- 
well had his sins. There may have been some fanati- 
cism and bigotry in this man ; but hypocrisy there was 
none. Novalis calls him "a God-intoxicated man." 



284 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

O that, in the men who rule our land, in those who 
stand in the pulpit, between the living and the dead, 
there were to-day the same strong faith in God, and the 
same moral earnestness, that dwelt in the soul of this 
great man. If this were so, we would not have polit- 
ical parties favoring in their platforms and advocating 
in their speeches Civil Service Reform, with no serious 
intention of putting it in practice. We would not 
have men subscribing to creeds which they have long 
since ceased to believe. '*It is a good thing to be 
zealously affected in a good cause." 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 285 



LECTURE XXIII. 

LIFE AND TIMES OF CROMWELL. 

Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them 
all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I con- 
found thee before them. 

For, behold, I have made thee this day a defensed city, and an 
iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings 
of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and 
against the people of the land. 

And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail 
against thee ; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee (Jer. i. 
17-19). 

We now turn from Cromwell the soldier to Crom- 
well the protector, or, as his enemies said, the * * usurp- 
er;" really, Cromwell the king. For, of the many who 
have worn crowns, few were as truly kings as this 
uncrowned man. Whatever may be said of his right 
to dissolve Parliaments, one thing is certain, that during 
the time he ruled, the commerce of England flourished, 
her colleges prospered, the heavy taxes under which 
the people had groaned so long became lighter, and 
England was prosperous at home and feared abroad. 

Many have blamed Cromwell for dissolving the 
"Long Parliament," which before the civil war did 
so much for the cause of liberty. But it must be 
remembered that Hampden, Pym, and its chief men 
were gone. For a long time it had done nothing that 
showed either wisdom, courage, or greatness. Its 
glory had departed ; it had become so feeble that it 
was called, in derision, the *'Rump Parliament." 



286 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Months passed in debates that came to nothing; it 
seemed as if they were trying how not to do anything. 
To Cromwell, every hour was important. The king's 
business requires haste. **I must work while it is 
day." One morning he takes his old seat and listens to 
a war of words. He can sit still no longer ; he has 
had enough of this. **It is not fit," said he, ''that 
you shall sit any longer ; you shall give place to better 
men. I have sought the Lord night and day that 
He would rather slay me than put on me the doing of 
this work." He tells them of their personal sins, turns 
them out, locks the door, puts the key in his pocket, 
and walks off. He said afterward : * * We did not hear a 
dog bark at their going." When asked why he did 
this, his only answer was: *' The Spirit of God was so 
strong upon me that I would no longer consult with 
flesh and blood. " Then came the * ' Little Parliament, " 
sometimes called ''Barebones Parliament," from one 
of its members, Barebones, who was nicknamed 
** Praise-God Barebones." Rouse, the author of an 
edition of psalms that are still sung in some churches, 
was also a member of this House. They were earnest 
men, but not great men. Carlyle thinks that they 
wanted to introduce the Christian religion into real 
practice. We have conquered the enemies of Christ ; 
let us in real earnest set about doing the command- 
ments of Christ. But they were not men of large 
knowledge or clear ideas. Little did they know about 
governing a nation. They would never un^dertake any 
great work. They would never be any help to Crom- 
well, that was clear. He sent them home, and then 
became "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of 
England, Scotland and Ireland," though, according to 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 28/ 

Macaulay, with less power than a President of the 
United States. He was offered the crown. He was 
urged to take it again and again. He wanted time 
to think oh so great a matter. **The answer of the 
tongue," said he, "as well as the preparation of the 
heart, is from God. I want time to ask counsel of 
God and of my own heart." He was alone with God 
and his own thoughts. He prayed ; he pondered ; he 
tried to get light; he came to a decision: **I am 
not able for such a charge." He did not believe it was 
the will of God, or for their welfare. 

Cromwell's foreign policy. 

From the accomplishment of his purposes, which 
were twofold, he never turned aside, and, like his Iron- 
sides, he was never beaten. His purpose was, first, to 
arrest the persecuting fires of Rome and defend the 
rights of Protestants everywhere. Second, he hoped 
to make the name of an Englishman as great as the 
name of a Roman in Rome's most palmy days. The 
great nations of Europe were combined to crush the 
cause of freedom. The policy of Cromwell was to 
unite all the Protestant States of Europe in a league, 
with England at their head, against Popery, the enemy 
of all liberty. The ship of State may have sailed 
on calmer waters, but never with more majesty; and 
never did it command more respect than when Crom- 
well was at the helm. The dying Richelieu seems to 
have foreseen his power, for he warned his successor to 
steer clear of "those rough-shod Puritans." 

Cromwell had in Robert Blake, "the sea-king," a 
soldier who was as victorious on the waters as he had 
been on the land. Blake's men, like the Ironsides, 



288 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

were men of strict moral purity. Blake everywhere 
was victorious. He. drove the Spanish ships from the 
sea, compelled both Spain and Rome to release Eng- 
lish prisoners and pay for ships they had destroyed. 
At one time the Pope, who trembled at the names 
of Cromwell and Blake, paid twenty thousand pistoles. 
English merchants doing business in Italy or Spain 
were allowed to have their Bibles with them. Crom- 
well sends Blake into the Mediterranean, and neither 
Catholic nor Mohammedan vessels could stand before 
him. The story of English valor and English victories 
filled the world. The account of Protestant persecu- 
tions in various places reached England. Milton wrote : 

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones 

Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold ; 

Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones, 
Forget not; in thy book record their groans. 

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold, 

Slain by the bloody Piemontese that roll'd 
Mother and infant down the rocks. Their moans 

The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 
To Heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow 

O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
The triple tyrant ; that from these may grow 

A hundred fold, who having learn'd thy way 
Early may fly the Babylonian woe. 

The massacre of the Vaudois by the Duke of Savoy 
caused Cromwell's eyes to first fill with tears, and then 
flash fire. He subscribed for their relief two thousand 
pounds, appointed a day for prayer and a collection, 
and forty thousand pounds more were raised. He 
terrified the Pope by telling him that English cannon 
should be heard at Rome if these persecutions were 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 289 

not stopped. He would not sign a treaty with the 
king of France unless he would pledge that these 
persecutions should come to an end immediately. The 
king of France protested ; the French ambassador asked 
leave to return to Paris ; and Cromwell told him he 
was welcome to go, and intimated that he himself, with 
an army, would soon appear before the gates of Paris. 
This had the desired effect. The king of France wrote 
a letter to ** Our Dear Brother Oliver, " and agreed to all 
his demands. The crafty Mazarin treated Cromwell 
with more respect than he ever did another person. 
His fear by day, and the specter of his dreams by 
night, was Cromwell before the gates of Paris. It was 
a common saying that this Cardinal was more afraid 
of Oliver than of the devil. 

THE DEATH OF CROMWELL. 

His health for several years had been poor ; he 
is worked down, and worn out. Charles Stuart, *'on 
the word and faith of a Christian king," offered a large 
reward to any one who would remove this fellow "by 
sword, pistol or poison." Attempts were made. His 
mother, aged ninety-four, called him to her dying bed. 
Here last words were: **The Lord cause his face to 
shine upon thee, and comfort thee in all thy ad- 
versities, and enable thee to do great things for the 
glory of the most high God, and to be a relief unto 
his people. My dear son, I leave my heart with thee. 
Good night." Grand woman. Happy the man who 
has such a mother. 

Then came the death of his daughter Elizabeth. 
This was a death-blow ; he never rallied. Godly men 
stood around his death-bed. He talked to them about 



290 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

God's covenant. He asked them to read Philippians iv. 
11-13. "That scripture did once save my life when 
my eldest son, poor Oliver, died, which went as a 
dagger to my heart; indeed it did." When verse 
thirteen was read — "I can do all things through Christ 
who strengthens me" — *' Yes," he said, **he that was 
Paul's Christ is my Christ, too." To his children, 
weeping by the bed, he said: "Children, live like 
Christians; I leave you the Covenant to feed upon." 
" We could not be more desirous that he should abide 
than he was content and willing to go," says Maid- 
stone. This great man died September 3, 1658. Mil- 
ton has well said : 

Cromwell, our chief of men, who through a cloud, 

Not of war only, but detractions rude, 

Guided by faith and matchless fortitude, 
To peace and truth thy glorious way hast plough'd. 

Cromwell was right when he said : * ' God in his 
own good time will vindicate me." Day by day we are 
getting to understand him better and love and admire 
him more. He stands forth to-day as one of the great 
men of his century, if not the greatest ; and one of the 
noblest characters that has appeared in any age. 
When a thousand things were to be done, and the 
weighty affairs of State were resting upon him, he had 
time to write kind letters to wife and children ; letters 
that breathe a most fervent piety, and show that he was 
more anxious about their religious welfare than about 
anything else. In a letter to his daughter, he said: " I 
desire you to make it above all things your business to 
seek the Lord ; to be frequently calling upon Him, that 
He would make Himself manifest to you in His Son." 
His religious duties were attended to, no matter who 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 2gl 

the visitors were. When the ambassadors of Holland 
spent the evening at his house, after supper he gave 
out a hymn, and handing the book to the ambassador, 
said: "That is the best paper that has passed between 
us yet." Then, with his wife and daughter and visitors, 
he took a walk on the river bank ; then there was read- 
ing and prayer in the family, and all retired. 

Again : a man is to be judged by his companions as 
well as by his public and private words and acts. Those 
persons who seek his society, and whose friendship he 
seeks, with whom he consults and in whom he delights, 
will do a great deal in forming his character. You can 
not separate a man from his friends, any more than 
from his words and deeds. Few persons have tried as 
faithfully to surround themselves with wise and good 
men as did Cromwell. Though not a scholar, the most 
scholarly men of England were his friends. He 
recognized Milton's ability, appreciated his pure life, 
and made him Foreign Secretary. He drew close to 
himself the gifted Andrew Marvell, sought the friend- 
ship of Baxter, made Sir Mathew Hale his Chief 
Justice, and said to Dr. Owen, as soon as he saw him : 
**You are a person I must be acquainted with." 
Which of all the kings of Europe in that century had 
friends and advisers of such wisdom, scholarship and 
purity ? * * For if there was a man in England who ex- 
celled in any faculty or science, the Protector would 
find him out and reward him according to his merit." 

Remember, still farther, that in an age when kings 
and statesmen, priests and preachers, looked upon 
toleration as foolish in politics and criminal in religion, 
he stood out alone as the great champion of religious 
liberty, and declared that man was to answer to God 



292 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

alone for his faith. Presbyterians and Baptists, 
Episcopahans and Quakers, all enjoyed his protection. 
To the clergymen of the Church of England he said : 
' ' Continue to read the scriptures to your people, and 
to preach in your church as you have*been accustomed 
to do, and even a little more frequently." If to some 
extent he proscribed Catholics and Episcopalians, it 
was for political and not religious reasons. He asked 
the Presbyterians, who were bitter in their opposition 
to toleration: ** Where do you find in the scriptures a 
ground to warrant the assertion that preaching is ex- 
clusively your function?" They insist that a man 
shall be orthodox ; he tells them that a man must 
be merciful as well as orthodox. Thomas Edwards 
wrote a strong work called * * A Treatise against Tolera- 
tion and Pretended Liberty of Conscience," in which 
he said: "Toleration is the grand design of the devil — 
his masterpiece and the chief engine he has at this time 
to hold up his tottering kingdom. All the devils in hell 
and their instruments are at work to promote tolera- 
tion. " What wonder, then, that Milton said: "Pres- 
byter was priest spelt large." Yet nothing turned 
Cromwell aside from his purpose to secure toleration 
for all, and he labored to extend the rights of citizen- 
ship to the outcast and persecuted Jews. 

He was a man of power rather than of knowledge. 
In most directions his knowledge was limited. He 
studied but one book, the Bible, and is a striking 
illustration of the saying: "Beware of the man of one 
book." He thought, he spoke, he wrote in Bible lan- 
guage. That book daily furnished the food that 
nourished his intellect and heart and strengthened his 
will. Alfred, who laid the foundations of the British 



OLIVER CROMWELL. 293 

government, and Cromwell, who saved it in the hour of 
its greatest peril, and made the glory of the latter house 
greater than the former, each got his ideas and inspira- 
tions from the same book. In all Cromwell's lectures 
and speeches you see that he desires above all things 
that his life shall be right in the sight of God, for he 
knows that very soon he must give an account of his 
words and deeds. Thus, when he does not see clearly 
what to do, he calls a day of fasting and prayer, "to 
ask for God's enlightenment as to what should now be 
done." In a letter to his wife, after telling her that his 
health is a little better, he says: *'But that will not 
satisfy me unless I get a heart to love and serve 
my heavenly Father, and get more of the light of His 
countenance, which is better than life, and more power 
over my corruptions." Of the Government he says: 
"If God will not bear it up, let it sink, for I have 
learned too much of God to dally with Him, to hold 
with Him in these things." The sound of eternity is 
ever in his ears. He is always brave in the presence 
of men, and always humble in the presence of God. 

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, 
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head. 



294 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 



LECTURE XXIV. 

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MILTON. 

In Milton's character the noblest qualities of every party were 
combined in harmonious union (Macaulay). 

"Paradise Lost" is one of the few monumental works of the 
world, with nothing in modern epic literature comparable to it except 
the great poem of Dante. Milton is the supreme poet of his nation, 
with the single exception of Shakespeare (Masson). 

This man cuts us all out, and the ancients, too (Dryden). 

His name is almost identified with sublimity. He is, in truth, the 
sublimest of men (Channing). 

Most persons think of Milton only as a poet, and 
to many he is only the author of ''Paradise Lost." 
Knox was the theologian of Puritanism, Cromwell its 
soldier, and Milton its poet. These were all stern 
men, of moral purity and strong religious convictions. 
To them the Bible was of supreme authority, and they 
read it daily to find out what God wanted them to 
believe and do. But Milton was more than a great 
poet. He was a profound scholar, whose mind was 
stored with the richest treasures of ancient and modern 
thought. He was a man whose unquenchable love of 
freedom made him a life-long champion of intellectual 
and religious liberty. 

''Reformation," says Channing, "was the first 
word of public warning which broke from his youthful 
lips, and the hope of it was the solace of his decHning 
years." 

Great men and great events belong to his age. He 
lived in one of those grand periods "which determine 



JOHN MILTON. 295 

the character of ages to come." Spencer and Queen 
Elizabeth had only been dead a few years when he was 
born, and Shakespeare was still living. Cromwell and 
Milton were young men at the same time. He was 
personally acquainted with many of the best and 
greatest men of his day, and through books conversed 
with the most distinguished of all ages and countries. 
Though differing from Cromwell in many things, his 
intense love of liberty caused him to admire Crom- 
well as he did no other person, and to call him "our 
chief of men." When Milton was Cromwell's Sec- 
retary, and the growing power of the Commonwealth 
was felt and recognized everywhere, it was said that 
the two agencies that had done most to give it char- 
acter abroad "were Milton's books and Cromwell's 
battles." Aubrey says that foreigners flocked to Eng- 
land "only to see Oliver Cromwell, the Protector, and 
John Milton." Though in the numerous political 
pamphlets that he wrote there are bitter sayings 
and numerous blemishes, they are all written on the 
side of religious and civil liberty. 

Milton was born in London in 1608. His father 
was a man of some property ; was passionately fond of 
music, and determined that his son should have a good 
education. Of his father said the poet: " Both at the 
grammar school and under other masters at home, 
he caused me to be instructed daily." By the time he 
was twelve years of age he was in love with his studies, 
and scarcely ever went to bed before twelve or one 
o'clock. At the age of sixteen he entered Cambridge 
University. Here he spent eight years, as his father 
thought, preparing for the ministry. But at the close 
of his college life, it was clear to him that he could not 



296 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

subscribe to the creeds and traditions of the Church. 
Although it was his own intention, as well as his 
father's, that he should enter the service of the Church, 
he gave it up because in doing so one must become 
a slave and submit to the government of tyrants. ** I 
thought it better, " said he, **to prefer a blameless 
silence before the sacred office of speaking, bought and 
begun with servitude and forswearing." His strict 
morality while in college was in such striking con- 
trast with the conduct of the majority of the students, 
that they gave him the nickname of "The Lady of 
Christ's College." 

At an early age we find him forming a great pur- 
pose, which he resolutely cherished until his object was 
accomplished. Whether he studied books, or took 
a journey in foreign lands, or meditated alone, it was 
with this one object in view. No amount of labor, 
domestic trouble, personal disappointment, or calamity, 
ever tempted him to give it up. He determined only 
to know ** that which is of use to know," and his mind 
was *'set wholly on the accomplishment of the great- 
est of things." After the eight years in college, he 
spent five years in hard study at home. He writes: 
**When I take up a thing, I never pause or break 
it off, nor am drawn away by any other interest till 
I have arrived at the goal I proposed to myself." He 
felt an inward prompting, which grew stronger every 
day, to write a great poem. He believed that by labor 
and intense study he would be able to leave ** some- 
thing so written to after-time, as that they should not 
willingly let it die." Not only did he continually 
nourish his intellect and strengthen his will by the 
study of the best books, but he believed that to write a 



JOHN MILTON. 29/ 

great book one must have a pure mind in a pure body. 
Moral development must go hand in hand with 
physical development. The book can be no better 
than the man behind the book. "I argued to myself," 
said he, ''that if unchastity in a woman, whom St. 
Paul terms the glory of man, be such a scandal and 
dishonor, then certainly in a man, who is both the im- 
age and the glory of God, it must, though commonly 
not so thought, be much more dishonorable." The 
immoralities of men of genius are often excused, as 
if they should not be required to conform to the or- 
dinary laws of society. Milton believed in nothing of 
this sort. This was his belief: that a man who would 
write well in ''laudable things, ought himself to be 
a true poem, . . . not presuming to sing high 
praises of heroic men unless he have in himself the ex- 
perience and practice of that which is praiseworthy." 
But this is not all ; he is looking to God for help 
and inspiration. He will live and write "as ever in 
my Taskmaster's eye." In answering a friend's letter, 
he says: "You make inquiries as to what I am think- 
ing of. Why, with God's help, immortality. Yes, I 
am pluming my wings for another flight." This poem 
is to be the result of "devout prayer to that Eternal 
Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowl- 
edge, and send out His seraphim with the hallowed 
fire of His altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom 
He pleases." The passion of youth and the vapors of 
wine shall not go into it. In short, he is striving hard 
to prepare himself for a great work, in which he shall 
glorify God and help man. To this end, by hard 
study, he is making the best thoughts of the best 
books his own ; he is keeping his body under ; he will 



298 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

be pure even in his dreams. * ' Whatsoever things are 
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things 
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if 
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise," he 
will not only think on these things, but he will practice 
them. Of Virtue, he says: 

Mortals that would follow me, 
Love Virtue ! She alone is free ; 
She can teach ye how to climb 
Higher than the sphery clime ; 
Or, if Virtue feeble were, 
Heaven itself would stoop to her. 

Then, after having done all he could to qualify him- 
self in mind and heart, he calls on the great God to 
bless his undertaking and establish the work of his 
hands. Dr. Johnson, who had no great love for 
Milton, said : * ' From a promise like this, at once fer- 
vid, pious and rational, might be expected ** Paradise 
Lost." 

In 1637, Milton's mother having died, his home was 
broken up, and he determined to take a journey 
abroad. He visited Paris, Florence, Naples, Rome and 
Geneva. It was not to seek health or pleasure, but to 
equip himself for his life's work that he took this jour- 
ney. He seems to have taken little or no interest 
in the works of art and great buildings — '^ poems in 
stone" for which the cities that he visited were noted. 
Puritans had no love for art. He was cautioned not to 
talk on religious subjects, especially when in Italy. 
Although he tells us that he did not seek controversies, 
whenever he heard the true faith attacked he defended 
it, even in the city of Rome. The person that he was 



JOHN MILTON. 299 

most anxious to see of all others was a blind man 
seventy-four years of age, a prisoner of the Inquisi- 
tion ; this was Galileo. He was a prisoner because he 
knew more than the Jesuits. Galileo had two great ob- 
jects in life — to gain knowledge and to impart knowl- 
edge. He was the author of several excellent works ; 
he invented the thermometer ; improved the compass ; 
constructed the telescope, through which he saw won- 
ders in the heavens above. He tried hard to make his 
persecutors understand what he had seen. But he 
says : * ' Unfortunately, my proofs were not appre- 
hended; and notwithstanding all the pains I took, I 
could not succeed in making myself understood. What 
could a clear, strong argument do for stupid bigots and 
wooden-headed monks?" One is reminded of the 
words of Schiller: ** Against stupidity the very gods 
fight unvictorious. '* We have some idea of the im- 
pression this valuable apostle of science made on Mil- 
ton, when we remember that Galileo's name and vic- 
tories are mentioned in " Paradise Lost." 

Milton heard that the great civil conflict had begun 
in his own country, and he felt it was his duty to 
return home. "The sad news of the civil war in Eng- 
land," said he, ** called me back, for I considered it 
base that while my fellow-countrymen were fighting at 
home for liberty, I should be traveling abroad for in- 
tellectual culture." 

In 1640, he had got far enough along with his great 
work to write the name ** Paradise Lost." Twenty- 
seven more years passed before it was written. 

In 1643, he married a Miss Mary Powell. She was 
seventeen ; he was thirty-five. She was a society girl ; 
he a student of books. Her family were strong Royal- 



300 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

ists ; he was a Puritan of Puritans. A month after their 
marriage she got her husband's consent to visit her par- 
ents. Once at home, she determined to stay there. He 
Insisted that she should return ; she would do nothing 
of the kind. Milton then sat down quietly and wrote a 
work In favor of divorce when persons are of Incompat- 
ible temperaments. This argument appears to have had 
such an effect upon his wife that she desired to live with 
him again. She went to London, threw herself at his 
feet, asked his pardon, which was granted, and lived 
with him until the day of her death. 

This was the age of pamphlets. Milton wrote 
twenty-five In defense of liberty, civil and religious. It 
was not the work that he loved. It was with bitter re- 
grets that he turned away from his poem. But duty 
demanded it, and he would do his duty. With him 
liberty was before everything. He believed that the 
sword of Cromwell, that was drawn In defense of 
toleration, was the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. 
Even when he Is bitterest In his denunciations, every 
line shows that he was aspiring to be pure and do right. 
When he became Cromwell's Foreign Secretary, he gave 
himself up entirely to the service of his country. 
Writing night and day, his eyes grew weak, and then 
he lost sight altogether. His great work is really not 
begun, and he Is In utter darkness. Then came the 
death of Cromwell ; Charles II. Is on the throne. 

** Revolutions are of two kinds," says Pattlson; 
''they are either progressive or reactionary. A revolu- 
tion of progress Is often destructive, sweeping away 
much which should have been preserved. But such a 
revolution has a regenerating force; it renews the 
youth of a nation and gives free play to Its vital 



JOHN MILTON. 301 

powers. A revolution of reaction, on the other hand, 
is a benumbing influence. In such a conservative 
revolution, the mean, the selfish, the corrupt, come 
to the top ; man seeks ease and enjoyment rather than 
duty; virtue, honor, patriotism, disappear altogether 
from a society which has ceased to believe in them." 
The coming of Charles II. to the throne brought about 
just this state of things. "Days," says Macaulay, ^ 
''never to be, recalled without a blush — days of serv- 
itude without loyalty and sensuality without love, of 
dwarfish talents and gigantic vices, the paradise of cold 
hearts and narrow minds, the golden age of the cow- 
ard, the bigot, and the slave." 

In these dark days, when the principles that he 
loved better than his life were trampled under foot, 
when his name was a scoff and a by-word, his prop- 
erty and eye-sight gone — then it was that Milton be- 
came truly great. Old, poor, blind, and almost friend- 
less, he went to work and did that which, as a youth, 
he had proposed to do ; namely, to write something 
that men ''would not willingly let die." "Paradise 
Lost," "Paradise Regained," and "Samson Agon- 
istes " were all brought forth in those dreadful days. 
Samson is, to a great extent, his own biography. In 
all of them he reasons of righteousness, temperance, 
and judgment to come. According to Macaulay, the 
seventeenth century produced but two original works, 
and "Paradise Lost" is one of the two. It is the 
great epic poem of Puritanism. There is in it none of 
that milk of human kindness, that sympathy, that 
Shakespeare is so full of. There was little sympathy in 
Puritan theology; it was too stern for tears. In " Para- 
dise Lost" we have Puritan theology in a poem. 



302 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Milton is worthy of imitation in many things. 
In boyhood he selected a lofty purpose. He held 
to that purpose all through life, never turning aside 
until it was accomplished. He was a bold and able 
advocate of religious toleration. Nothing could quench 
his love of liberty. The questions of right and wrong 
were never matters of indifference to him. At the call 
of liberty he gave up his travels abroad and re- 
turned home ; then for a time laid aside the cherished 
work of life and took up his pen to write pamphlets in 
defense of liberty. In the service of his country he 
lost his eye-sight, and then, when his country had 
no further use for him, without a murmur he turned to 
his great work and finished it, as in his * ' great Task- 
master's eye." 



JOHN BUNYAN. 303 



LECTURE XXV. 

JOHN BUNYAN. 

" Behold this dreamer " (Gen. xxxvii. 19). 

In England, during the latter half of the seventeenth century, 
there were only two great creative minds. One of those minds pro- 
duced the "Paradise Lost;" the other, "Pilgrim's Progress" (Ma- 
caulay). 

To his contemporaries, Bunyan was known as the Nonconformist 
Martyr, and the greatest living Protestant preacher (Froude). 

** Nobler men than the English Puritans," says 
Froude, **are not to be found in English history; " and 
we may add that among the Puritans there is not a no- 
bler character than, and no name so familiar as, John 
Bunyan. For of those who read at all, there are 
very few who have not read ** Pilgrim's Progress;" 
and those who read it once generally read it more than 
once. Only a few have ever seen the writings of Knox, 
or read the speeches and letters of Cromwell ; but 
Bunyan's readers are as numerous as the stars of night. 
Now and then you find some one pondering over Bax- 
ter's "Saints' Rest;" and here and there are the 
admirers of Milton, who find pleasure and profit in 
turning the pages of ** Paradise Lost." But the read- 
ers of Bunyan are everywhere, and among all classes. 
The author of no fairy story has charmed and delighted 
so many children, while he warns, strengthens and en- 
courages the youth, and feeds and comforts the aged. 
May we not, then, expect to find in the life of this 
"poet-apostle of the English middle classes," who, as 



304 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Coleridge says, * ' composed in the lowest style of Eng- 
lish, without slang or false grammar," m.uch that is 
rich in instruction and of thrilling interest ? He lived 
during the most stirring times of the eventful sevea- 
teenth century. He witnessed much that was awful 
and glorious in political revolutions and religious refor- 
mations. He saw the opening of the civil war, and 
watched it as it swept on through blood to the death of 
Charles I. He beheld with interest Cromwell's victo- 
ries and reforms. He joined with a number of citizens 
in thanking Cromwell for dissolving the Long Parlia- 
ment when it had lost its patriotism and ceased to be a 
power for good. While Bunyan was preaching and 
writing, Roger Williams, another Baptist, was suffering 
for the cause of freedom, and dreaming of liberty for 
the oppressed of all lands, and also working and pray- 
ing for the protection and salvation of the Indians. 
Milton, in the cause of civil liberty, was writing his 
eyes out, and preparing heart and head to produce 
"Paradise Lost," a work which men would not will- 
ingly let die. Owen, Howe and Baxter were also 
writing, preaching and praying. 

In the year 1628, at Elstow, a little town near Bed- 
ford, John Bunyan was born. His father was a tinker, 
and an honest, hard-working man. * ' I never Avent to 
school to Aristotle or Plato," says Bunyan, "but was 
brought up in my father's house, in a very mean con- 
dition, among a company of poor countrymen, my 
father's house being of the meanest and most despised 
of all families in the land." At that time but few chil- 
dren of the class to which he belonged ever went to 
school. But in Bedford there was a grammar-school, 
to which Bunyan was sent when quite young, and there 



JOHN BUNYAN. 305 

he tells us that he ''learned to read and write according 
to the rate of other poor men's children." Like many 
boys before his time, and many since, while at school 
he formed bad habits, and began to walk in the ways 
of sin. He learned to rob orchards ; and in lying and 
swearing, he tells us that he had no equal. His lying 
consisted in inventing wonderful stories for the enter- 
tainment of his companions. While his sensitive 
conscience and the theology of that day caused him to 
speak of himself as the chief of sinners, it does not 
seem that he was guilty of any other sins than those 
mentioned. He never drank, though frequently at the 
ale-house. His companions were low ; yet he was 
never unchaste. *To use his own language, ** If all the 
fornicators and adulterers in England were hanged by 
the neck, John Bunyan would be still alive and well." 
With most persons then living, he not only believed 
that there had once been a witch at Endor, but that 
there were witches in every village of England, and 
that all about were men and women really possessed 
with devils. He tells of profane men who were struck 
dead for swearing ; the earth opening and swallowing 
up a lying thief; and of a most wicked ale-house 
keeper, into whom the devil entered, and tormented 
him until the day of his death. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered the army, but whether that of the 
king or Cromwell is not certain. He married a poor 
orphan girl, who had been brought up by wise and 
pious parents. Bunyan was now twenty years of age. 
They were very poor, not having so much as a dish or 
a spoon between them. His wife had two books, which 
her father had given to her — ** The Plain Man's Path to 
Heaven," and *'The Practice of Piety." Sometimes 



306 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

they read these books together ; and when they did, he 
says, * * she often told me what a godly man her father 
was." There began to grow in him a taste for better 
things, and he often wished he was a better man. Still 
he clung to his sins, and went on telling lies for the 
pleasure and entertainment of his companions, swear- 
ing continually, and spending Sunday as a day of 
amusement. His wife still had a good influence over 
him. Sometimes he went with her to church, and now 
and then heard a sermon that alarmed him, and made 
him thoughtful for a time. One day, while standing in 
a shop, cursing as usual, a loose and abandoned woman 
heard him, and protested that she trembled for him, 
and believed that he would corrupt all the boys in 
town. At this reproof he hung his head in shame, and 
wished he was an innocent little boy again. He now 
made some feeble effort at reform ; but soon his resolu- 
tions grew weak, and again he was living a life of sin, 
without God and without hope. A poor man who had 
found help and comfort in reading the Bible induced 
him to read it, and in this he found pleasure ; and, to 
his own great wonder, by and by he left off swearing 
altogether ; life became real to him ; it was too serious 
to trifle with. *' Whence came I ? ' ■ ** What am I ? " 
" Whither am I going? " *' What does God want me 
to do ?" These were the problems that he determined 
to solve. He was in downright earnest. He was com- 
ing to hate sin as God hates it, and longed to be 
delivered from its guilt and consequences. Many were 
the temptations that beset his path. Voices called him 
this way and that. Sirens sang to entice. Evil spirits 
whispered doubts in his ear. He tried to find the path 
to peace and purity by keeping the law of Moses. He 



JOHN BUNYAN. 30/ 

failed. In his own sight he was the worst of sinners. In 
"Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners," which is 
well called his ** spiritual biography," he tells us of the 
terrible struggles through which he passed. When, in 
"Pilgrim's Progress," he shows us poor Christian al- 
most crushed beneath his burden, he is giving us a 
picture of himself Why did the thoughts of his sin 
almost drive him mad ? for, as we have seen, he was 
not a sinner above all who dwelt in Bedford. The the- 
ology of that day, which taught that the smallest sin 
deserved eternal damnation, had something to do with 
this state of feeling. Then Bunyan, of all men, had a 
sensitive conscience and a vivid imagination. He was 
drawing near to the cross ; and no one can trifle with 
sin when the cross is in view. He was making some 
progress in controlling his sinful inclinations. The 
more one knows, the more he feels his own ignorance 
and realizes how much there is yet to learn ; so the 
more he hungers and thirsts for righteousness, and the 
higher he rises in the true life, the more does he be- 
come conscious of his own shortcomings. Every day 
hights above hights to which he has not risen appear 
before him, and he hears voices from above, saying, 
" Come up higher." 

Bunyan's struggles would not have been so great, 
his progress would have been more rapid, had not the 
theology of that day kept him from understanding that 
Book which is for the wayfaring man. But every day 
he makes some progress ; he finds out that he has a 
soul to save as well as a body to feed and clothe ; that 
he must give up all sin ; for while in the true way there 
is room for the body and soul, there is not room for 
"body, soul, and sin." He treasures the Word of 



308 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

God in his heart, and, like the good seed, it begins to 
grow. One day these words came into his mind : 
'/He has made peace through the blood of the cross." 
He now turns from the law that was given by Moses 
to the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ. Mt. 
Sinai, with its frowns, thunders and lightnings, no 
longer hangs over him. Calvary is coming into view. 
He begins to think of Christ as '*a man at the right 
hand of the Father, pleading for me." Like Paul, his 
hope and glory were in the cross. 

In the cross of Christ I glory, 

Towering o'er the wrecks of time ; 

All the light of sacred story- 
Gathers round its head sublime. 

Mr. Gifford, the Baptist minister at Bedford, who, I 
doubt not, is the ** Evangelist " of Pilgrim's Progress, 
did all in his power to help Bunyan. 

He finally attains to that condition of soul that 
every one has who has ever become truly a child of 
God, and to which every one must come who shall ever 
become a follower of Christ. He is ready to make a 
complete and perfect surrender to God. The language 
of those in this condition is: "All that Thou com- 
mandest us we will do ; and whithersoever Thou send- 
est us we will go." ''Speak, Lord, for Thy servant 
heareth. " "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" 
" Had I a thousand gallons of blood in my veins," ex- 
claims Bunyan, "I could freely spill all at the com- 
mand of my Lord and Saviour." Bunyan was now 
immersed in the river Ouse, and united with the church 
of which Mr. Gifford was pastor. 

The Baptist Church, at the time Bunyan united 
with it, was in its infancy in England. But it was com- 



JOHN BUNYAN. 3O9 

posed of persons who read the Bible and formed their 
own opinions. They were thrifty, industrious, law- 
abiding citizens. In studying the Bible, they became 
convinced that infant baptism was not taught in the 
New Testament, and not practiced by the apostles. 
And, as Froude says, ' ' If the sacrament is not a mag- 
ical form, but a personal act, in which the baptized 
person devotes himself to Christ's service, to baptize 
children at an age when they can not understand what 
they are doing may well seem irrational, and even im- 
pious. '* 

Bunyan, In the new life, felt that it was his duty to 
tell the good news to those who were longing and 
struggling for deliverance, as he had once struggled. 
His great desire is the salvation of sinners. *'In my 
preaching," says he, "I have really been in pain, and 
have, as it were, travailed to bring forth children to 
God. If I were fruitless, It mattered not who com- 
mended me ; but if I were fruitful, I cared not who did 
condemn. My heart has been so wrapped up in the 
glory of this work, that I counted myself more blessed 
and honored of God by this, than If he had made me 
the emperor of the Christian world." He feels as if 
an angel stood behind his back encouraging him. He 
preached with power and enthusiasm. That great 
scholar, Dr. Owen, said he would gladly lay down all 
his learning if he could preach and write like Bunyan. 
Whenever he preached, it was with power and author- 
ity. His Influence daily increased. He was called 
Bishop Bunyan, and was recognized as the first 
preacher of his day. Although he was a dreamer, and 
lived in an age of dogmatic and speculative preaching, 
his preaching was always persuasive, practical and 



3IO LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS.- 

kind. Take one sample from a sermon to parents: 
''Take heed that the misdeeds for which thou correct- 
est thy children be not learned them by thee. Many 
children learn that wickedness from their parents for 
which they beat them. I tell you, if parents carry it 
lovingly towards their children, mixing their mercies 
with loving rebukes, and their loving rebukes with 
fatherly and motherly compassions, they are more likely 
to save their children, than by being churlish and se- 
vere to them. Even if these things do not save them, 
yet it will greatly ease them at the day of death to 
consider, *I have done by my love as much as I could 
to save and deliver my child from hell.' " 

But when Charles II. was fairly established on the 
throne, a law was passed not only compelling all dissent- 
ers to give up their worship, but requiring them to 
worship according to the forms of the Church of Eng- 
land. Bunyan, of all men, disliked to disobey the 
authorities ; yet he believed that he should obey God 
rather than man. He tells Justice Keelin that the 
Bible commands us to pray with the spirit and the un- 
derstanding ; not with the spirit and the prayer-book. 
The Judge frowns, and warns him to be careful how he 
speaks of a book that had been in use ever since the 
days of the apostles ! 

On the twelfth of November, 1660, Bunyan was ar- 
rested and put in jail, and it was over twelve years be- 
fore he gained his liberty. He stood well in the 
community, and he was allowed larger freedom than 
was usually granted to prisoners ; in fact, he might 
have obtained his liberty at any time if he had been 
willing to promise that he would not preach again. He 
said he had a gift that he was bound to use, and he 



JOHN BUNYAN. 3II 

knew it was not sinful for men to meet together and 
exhort one another to follow Christ. ' ' If I were out 
of prison to-day, I would preach the gospel again to- 
morrow. " It almost broke his heart to leave his wife, 
and especially his poor little blind child, which ' * lay 
nearer to my heart than all I had besides." "Yet," 
said he, "I must do it — I must do it."" He was a re- 
former. In him dwelt the spirit of the Hebrew 
prophets. I think it is Dean Stanley who says: **The 
spirit of the world asks, first, Is it safe ? second, Is it 
true ? The prophet asks, first. Is it true ? second, Is it 
safe ? The world asks, first. Is it prudent ? second. Is 
it right? The prophet asks, first, Is it right? second, 
Is it prudent ? " Thus the spirit of the world never 
undertook or carried on any great reform, and never 
will. The reformer never asks. Is it dangerous ? Is it 
useful ? Is it pleasant ? but. Is it right ? Is it true ? 

Joseph's life in prison gave him an opportunity to 
help his fellow-prisoners, and from the prison he 
stepped almost to the throne. So the prison gave Bun- 
yan an opportunity to do his great work. It became a 
home to him. As he says : *'So, being delivered up to 
the jailer, I was led home to prison." Here he had time 
to read and think, and dream immortal dreams. He 
read but few books ; he studied only one ; but that was 
the best. The Bible was his book of philosophy, of 
theology, of literature and of poetry. He talked with 
Moses and the prophets ; he had fellowship with David 
and the poets whose lips had been touched with the 
live coal ; he held sweet converse with Christ and the 
apostles. 

Of Bunyan's works, it is not my purpose to write. 
They must be read to be understood and enjoyed. He 



312 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

was the author of about fifty works. ' ' Grace Abound- 
ing to the Chief of Sinners " is really his own ** spirit- 
ual biography;" or, as Macaulay says, **one of the 
most remarkable pieces of autobiography in the 
world." ''The Holy War" has been well called the 
people's Paradise Lost and Regained in one. In the 
''Life and Death of Mr. Badman, " he gives a terrible 
picture of a man on the downward way. He preaches 
against swindling and dishonesty in strong and terrible 
language. It is a good book to read in these days, 
when there are so many and such strong temptations 
to be dishonest. It might be read with profit once a 
year by all persons who are in business. In this work 
he gives his view of death-bed repentance, which he 
thinks is seldom of more value than "the howling of a 
dog." "I am no admirer," says he, "of sick-bed re- 
pentance ; for I think, verily, it is seldom good for 
anything." 

But his great work Is "Pilgrim's Progress," which 
is said to have been translated into more languages 
than any other book except the Bible. One writer 
mentions nearly forty works whose authors gathered 
their inspiration from Bunyan. Dr. Johnson, who sel- 
dom read a book through, made an exception in the 
case of "Pilgrim's Progress," and wished that it was 
longer. It is, according to Macaulay, invaluable as a 
study to every person who wishes to obtain a wide 
command over the English language. 

Bunyan lived sixteen years after he was released 
from prison. They were years of peace and prosper- 
ity. In all parts of Europe, and even in America, his 
writings were calling sinners to repentance, and com- 
forting and strengthening saints. Wherever he went, 



JOHN BUNYAN. 313 

great crowds flocked to hear him preach — as many as 
twelve hundred persons gathering in London at 
seven o'clock of a dark winter morning. He always 
rejoiced to hear of conversions, but did not like com- 
pliments. A. friend once said: **What a sweet 
sermon you preached to-day!" **You need not 
remind me of that," said Bunyan ; **the devil told me 
of it before I was out of the pulpit." Divisions among 
Christians grieved him, and he was one of the first in 
modern times to plead for Christian union. He was 
opposed to party names, and wished to be called a 
Christian, or a Believer, **or any name which was ap- 
proved by the Holy Ghost." He did not believe in 
close communion, as many of our Baptist brethren do 
to-day, though he did not believe that persons who 
were grossly immoral should come to the Lord's 
table. 

He went to Reading, where there was a bitter fam- 
ily quarrel. He succeeded in bringing about a happy 
reconciliation, but it cost him his life ; for on his way 
home he was overtaken by a storm, and took a severe 
chill, and died in a few days. His last words were : 
**Take me, for I come to Thee." His faith in Christ 
plucked the sting from death. 

There is much in his theology that we do not be- 
lieve. Yet he was an honest, earnest man, who 
surpassed all the Puritans in charity, sympathy, and a 
knowledge of human nature. More than any one else 
of that day, he seems to have understood that sin 
makes hell, and righteousness makes heaven ; that 
wherever there is sin unrepented of and unforgiven, 
there is hell, no matter where the person is, or what his 
surroundings are. He says: 



314 LIVES AND TIMES OF REFORMERS. 

Sin is the worm of hell, the lasting fire ; 
Hell would soon lose its heat should sin expire: 
Better sinless in hell than to be where 
Heaven is, and be found a sinner there. 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 315 



SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

WHAT THE BIBLE HAS DONE FOR 
CHILDREN. 

We often speak of what the Bible has done for 
woman. We show how Christianity found her a slave 
and elevated her to a condition only a little lower than 
that of the angels. We tell the truth when we say she 
lost nothing by being the last at the cross and the first 
at the tomb. We contrast her condition in heathen 
lands with her position in Christian countries, and 
say if the gospel had done nothing but give woman a 
home in which she is happy and a social circle in which 
she is queen, it has done a most glorious work. 

Again, we speak of Christianity as a civilizing 
power. We show how the missionary in Ceylon, 
among its flowers, in Greenland, among its snows, and 
in Africa, among the negroes, has not only told the 
savage of the life that is to come, but has taught him 
how to turn this present life to a good account. 
We can show that the oppressed are fewer, that the 
weak are better protected, that laws are kinder and 
juster in those countries that are only partly under 
Christian influences. I think it can be clearly shown, as 
has been said in a new work on ** Modern Philosophy," 
"that the civilization that is not based upon Chris- 
tianity is big with the elements of its own destruction." 
I agree with the French skeptic, who said, after all his 
favorite plans had failed : "I am satisfied that nothing 



3l6 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

but Christianity can save our country." It is not of 
what the Bible has done for woman, nor of what Chris- 
tianity has done for nations, that I intend to talk, but I 
wish to show you what they have done for children. 
** Woman Without Christianty " is the title of a chap- 
ter in a late work, but Children without Christianity is 
what I wish to consider now. 

When the Prince of Midian was asked by Gideon 
to describe his brothers, whom they had slain, he said : 
"Each one of them resembles the children of a king" 
(Judges viii. i8). This is very much the way parents 
look at their children now ; in their eyes each one of 
them resembles the child of a king. We say: **If I 
do say it myself, "and **If this is my child, a more 
obedient, a more affectionate, a more truthful, or a 
smarter child never lived." In short, "they resemble 
the children of a king.." The author of "Helen's 
Babies " did not leave out many mothers and fathers 
when he dedicated it "To the parents of the best 
children in the world." We all have happy recollec- 
tions of childhood. We remember it as a sunshiny 
period, when we thought all was gold that glittered, 
and believed that heaven was not far above the trees. 

I do not know that Adam and Eve left Eden 
any more reluctantly than most of us bid farewell to the 
garden of childhood. The fact that we never find 
a girl over sixteen years of age, is proof of what I have 
said. Childhood is becoming a kind of Mount of 
Transfiguration, and the children, like Peter, want to 
build the temple and stay there. In former times 
heaven was spoken of as a place where aged saints, 
clothed in white, walked and sang with angels in the 
presence of God. But to all of us heaven is largely 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 317 

composed of children, and in fact it would be but little 
of heaven if there were no children there. But the 
questions I wish to consider now are these : Was child- 
hood always such a happy period? and is it now in 
other than Christian countries ? And if not, what has 
produced the change? 

CHILDHOOD IN HEATHEN COUNTRIES. 

Every traveler who has said anything of the social 
condition of the tribes of Africa and Asia, or of the 
islands of the Pacific Ocean, has not only shown that 
children have no moral and religious training, but that 
their pliysical condition is most wretched, they being 
neglected and exposed to all sorts of dangers. One 
would not do injustice to most heathen parents If, 
in describing them, he was to use the language of 
the apostle, and say they are ^^zvithout natural affection. " 
Their children seem to be seldom in their thoughts. 
In Japan, says a well-known writer, a father may kill 
his child at pleasure. We have some skeptics to-day 
who fancy themselves philosophers, and who are con- 
tinually telling us that the civilization of China is 
superior to that of Christian countries, although I notice 
that none of them wish to move there with their families 
to enjoy that superior country. Now, the treatment of 
children in China is so inhuman that we would doubt 
the stories that have reached us if they were not so 
well established. When, for example, they wish to 
produce a hideous monster to attract the attention 
of some Chinese Barnum, they prepare a sort of a 
vase, open at the top and bottom, in which they im- 
prison a child, leaving head and arms out. As the 
child grows it is molded into the shape of the vase. 



3l8 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

After years this is removed by breaking, and the 
horrible specimen is ready for sale or exhibition. 
Infants are frequently murdered or exposed, especially 
if they are girls. The birth of a daughter is always 
regarded as a great misfortune. **I have no children," 
said a man to a traveler. " Did I not just see a num- 
ber in the room ? " '*Ah!"he replied with a sigh, 
**they are only girls." Vehicles pass up and down the 
streets of their cities and carry away infants that 
are thrown out, and they are buried in the same ditch, 
whether dead or alive. 

But, turning from the present condition of children 
in China, let us glance at child-life in Greece and Rome 
at the time when they reached their highest civiliza- 
tion. Look especially at Rome during the reign of 
Augustus, which is called the ** Golden Age." I do 
not find a parent w^ho expressed any hope for his chil- 
dren, or that had any anxiety about their training ; and 
in the literature of that age I have found as yet but 
one expression of pity for a child. "The age of our 
fathers," said Horace, "worse than that of our grand- 
sires, has produced us, who are yet baser, and are 
doomed to give birth to a still more degraded off- 
spring." Juvenal wrote in despair: " Posterity will add 
nothing to our immoralities ; our children can but 
do and desire the same crimes as ourselves." One 
evening, in a palace, a boy slipped and broke a 
crystal goblet. His master ordered that he should 
be thrown into a pond to be devoured by the 
fishes. The boy fled to Caesar and begged — not 
that his life might be saved, for this he did not 
hope — but that he might have a less horrible 
death. " At this time," says Seneca, " innocence was 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 3I9 

not rare, but non-existent." A glimpse at the child- 
hood of Claudius Caesar may give us some idea of 
the wretched condition of children at that time. He 
knew nothing of the pleasant and protecting influences 
of home, nothing of a father's care or a mother's love. 
His training in infancy was left altogether to a cruel 
slave, and both body and mind of the unhappy boy 
were weakened by the inhuman treatment he received. 
His mother spoke of him in a most unmotherly way as 
a monster, which nature had begun but never finished. 
Upon seeing a dull person she would say: '*He is 
as great a fool as my son Claudius." Had Claudius 
been a poet, with such a mother, it ^yould have been 
impossible for him to have written, as Cowper did : 

My mother, when I learned that thou wast dead, 
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed ? 
Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son? 
I heard the bell that tolled thy burial day, 
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away, 
And, turning from my window, drew 
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu. 

The blessed season of childhood, to which it is our 
delight to go back in memory, was a dismal blank to 
Greek and Roman poets. Philander, Cicero, Virgil and 
Horace were kind and affectionate men and volu- 
minous writers, yet they do not make a single allusion 
to their mothers or their early homes. The birth of a 
child in a Greek or Roman home was often anything 
but a season of rejoicing. If, when the child was 
shown to the father, he stooped down and took it in 
his arms, it became a member of the family. If, how- 
ever, he did not notice it, the little one was doomed to 
die, and was generally exposed, upon some barren 
rock, to the mercy of the wild beasts. 



320 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

CHILDHOOD IN CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES. 

Everything pleasant and beautiful is used as 
a symbol of childhood. Printing-presses are running 
night and day, books are written and papers are 
published by the thousands, for children. Even the 
weekly press is regarded as very incomplete that 
has not a child's department. You tax yourselves 
cheerfully to educate children. You hold conventions 
and institutes without number to consider the questions 
of their intellectual, moral and religious culture. Once 
all the services of the Lord's day were a horror to 
the children. The old people may have feasted, but 
there was hardly a crumb that fell from the sanctuary- 
table for the children. There may have been meat for 
men, but there was no milk for babes. The parents 
tied their children to bedposts. But now children's 
meetings are continually held, in which they are in- 
structed and pleased. I hope the time will come when 
there will be something for the children in all our 
services. You can hardly speak of a little child now 
without your voice breaking into tears, and yet they 
are not tears of sadness. Youth is no longer a dismal 
period. Every one talks of happy children, and men 
and women wish they were children again. There 
is scarcely a modern poet Avho has not written some 
gem about children. In the whole realm of ancient 
literature there is no such exquisite reference to in- 
fancy as that made by Dr. Holland: " Who can tell 
what the baby thinks ? Who can follow the gossamer 
links by which the manikin feels his way out from the 
shores of the great unknown into the light of day?" 
There is not a mother or father here who has not 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. ■ 321 

had the same feelings (although you may not have been 
able to express them so well) as Bennett had when he 
wrote "Baby May:" 

Health, for which there is no measure, 
Pleasure high above all pleasure; 
Joy in care, delight in sadness, 
Loveliness beyond completeness, 
Sweetness distancing all sweetness, 
Beauty all that beauty may be, 
That's May Bennett, and that's my baby. 

There are grown people here who will thank Hood 
for expressing so well their memories of childhood : 

I remember, I remember the fir-trees dark and high, 

I used to think their slender tops were close against the sky; 

It was childish ignorance, but now 'tis little joy 

To know I 'm farther off from heaven than when I was a boy. 

But why go on ? For you all know that what a pin 
is when the diamond has dropped from it this world 
would be without children. 

WHAT HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THIS HAPPY CHANGE? 

In the first book that was ever written, we are told 
of Isaac, the child of promise, who was born about 
three thousand five hundred years ago. From that 
time on, among the descendants of Isaac, children were 
looked upon as they never were before. To each 
mother her little one seemed a child of promise. Why 
was Abraham chosen to be the father of the most 
remarkable people the world ever saw? "When the 
children of Abraham became a nation, and a law was 
given, it was not a law for the old people, but a law to 
be read before the children, so that the children, which 
have not known anything, may hear and learn to fear 



322 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

the Lord God." And this teaching was to continne 
as long as they lived in the nation which God had 
given them (Deut. xxxi. 13). Listen, again, to the 
word of God; 

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in 
thine heart : 

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and 
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou 
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou 
risest up. 

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they 
shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, 
and on thy gates (Deut. vi. 6-9). 

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when 
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when 
thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deut. xi. 19). 

The Psalmist also felt the importance of this com- 
mand, for he said : 

We will not hide these things from our children, but will make it 
known unto them. 

That the generation to come might know them, even the children 
which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their 
children : 

That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the 
works of God, but keep his commandment (Ps. Ixxviii. 6, 7). 

Thus, by precept upon precept, they were made to 
feel their responsibility to their children, and by line 
upon line they were made to understand that the 
parent's first duty was to teach the children the law 
of God. Thus, we read of Hannah, who asked for 
a child, that she might give him to the Lord; and 
of the parents of Samson, who, before his birth, 
prayed that they might know what to do to the 
child that should be born. The Jews, even in their 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 32$ 

most degenerate days, had a much stronger affection 
for and a higher appreciation of their children than the 
surrounding nations. If one of the Caesars had slain 
the children in and about Rome, as Herod, in Bethle- 
hem and the country around, there would not have 
been such a wailing, lamentation and weeping as that 
which was heard in Rama. So intense was the feeling 
of the Jewish women against Herod that Josephus 
speaks of the clamor against him by ' ' the mothers 
of those who had been slain by him." Now, at that 
very time when, in Greece and Rome, fathers were ex- 
posing their children to death, and mothers were, if 
possible, a shade worse than the fathers, a child was 
born in Bethlehem, who made the cradle a sacred place 
before his resurrection threw light upon the tomb. 
Well may we say, " Joy to the world," when we think 
of that birth, for it surrounded childhood with a 
halo of glory. An old legion says that the children 
He placed His hands upon were thought more 
of than ever before. It seems to me that He must 
have taken all the children of our day in His arms. 
What a babe's clothes are when the infant has slipped 
out of them into the arms of death, would the Bible be 
if the infant of Bethlehem was not there. You know 
how children were in the mind of the Apostle Paul, 
and how John wrote a letter to the "little children" who 
were Christians. 

Thus we see that the religion of the Bible is 
peculiar in the sacredness that it gives to childhood, in 
the love and care it enjoins in its behalf. 

The Jewish law sanctified childhood ; Jesus yearned 
over it with peculiar tenderness, and gave it his special 
blessing. 



324 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

A FEW SUGGESTIONS. 

If, as we have tried to show, our hearts are kinder 
and our children happier than they were in Greece and 
Rome, and than they are in China, then the Bible is 
the Book and Christ is the Person who has brought 
about the blessed change. What is seen now is but a 
glimpse of what may be seen — of what will be seen — 
when more of us shall become diligent students of the 
Bible and consistent followers of Christ. The Sunday- 
school is not yet what it should be ; not what it might 
be ; not what it will be. 

First. Many parents are careless as to who shall 
teach their children, or where they send them to 
school. They do not feel the importance of teaching 
them the Bible, or of surrounding them with Christian 
influence. The **New York Herald" says there are 
over thirty thousand children of Protestant parents now 
in Catholic schools. One thing is certain : the salva- 
tion of the children is not of first importance with 
those parents. These may not all join the Catholic 
church ; but they will be of but little account in any 
other church. You will hear them defend the forms of 
the Church of Rome. They think that members of 
the church should not read and interpret the Bible for 
themselves ; and that the Sisters are the best people in 
the world. There is something else that is quite as bad, 
if not worse : that is, to send children to skeptical and 
materialistic teachers, who are continually intimating 
that this is a dead universe, governed by an absent 
God — who speak of prophets and apostles being in- 
spired just as poets and painters are now. No arith- 
metic can calculate the evil that is being done by a class 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 325 

of persons who are forever talking about all religions 
being true ; that one religion is as good as another ; 
that none of them are worth anything. There are 
parents who tell us that they don't want to prejudice 
their children in favor of any doctrine. They want 
them to grow up and choose for themselves. These 
parents wish to be considered broad and liberal ; while 
the truth is, that such talk indicates a weak mind or a 
bad heart. Mrs. Barrigar says : * * I let the children 
do just as they like about going to Sunday-school. I 
am afraid if I sent them, they would get a distaste for 
such things." "Do you let them do as they like 
about going to the day-school ? " '^ No, I send them.'' 
* ' Are you not afraid they will get a distaste for such 
things ? " ** My son has joined the thurch ; and the 
most satisfactory thing about it is, that I never said 
anything to him about it — never tried to induce him to 
take the step." The result of such talk is that a gener- 
ation of infidels is springing up around us. What 
would you think of a parent who said : * ' I never ad- 
vise my child to seek good society or to go to school ; 
nor will I forbid him going to gambling places or spend- 
ing his evenings in saloons. I am very much rejoiced 
that he has chosen to go to school. The most satisfac- 
tory thing about it is that I never warned him against 
bad company, nor prejudiced him in favor of good." 
Again: '*I will not advise my children to eat bread and 
meat, nor will I tell them not to eat arsenic and strych- 
nine. I tell them to choose. I don 't believe in preju- 
dicing them against arsenic ; it is not right to bias their 
minds against strychnine." Who does not know that 
truth is more nourishing than bread, and falsehood 
more dangerous than strychnine? If you are not 



326 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

prompt and diligent in teaching your children the truth, 
the devil will teach them falsehood. If you do not 
influence them to act, he will. If you do not teach 
them to pray ; if you do not teach them so that they 
ever be anxiously conscientious, the devil will put con- 
science to slumber in a deep sleep, that only awakes 
to everlasting weeping. 

With reference to every subject, there is a truth, 
and the work of our life should be to find and possess 
that truth, at whatever cost of time or labor. When 
the rain descends and the floods arise, all but truth will 
fall ; and at that day when all things shall be tried by 
fire, all but truth will be consumed. It is of the great- 
est importance to us and our children that we possess 
the truth. This is a subject upon which we must feel 
intensely and believe positively, if we ever exert an in- 
fluence for good. If you study the Bible so as to get 
just one truth clear from the rubbish, if you teach it 
so as to save one soul alive, your life, as a student and 
a teacher, is anything but a failure ; for, by so doing, 
you have saved yourself and those you taught. 

Second. The homes of some church members are al- 
most as godless as the schools of which we have been 
speaking. Not long since I had a conversation with a 
lady who told me that her children cared nothing for 
religion, and that she really doubted the truth of Solo- 
mon's saying: ** Train up, " etc. She was sure, if 
parents were ever anxious to have their children 
saved, it was herself and husband. They sent them 
to Sunday-school, and tried to get them to join the 
church. Let us see : They never went to prayer- 
meeting ; could not afford to take a religious paper, al- 
though several trashy weeklies came to the house. 



THE BIBLE AND CHILDREN. 32/ 

They never went with the children to Sunday-school, 
but took them to the circus. They sent the children 
to dancing-school, to learn graceful manners, and at the 
close of the school, went to see what they did, and 
praised them, and thanked the dancing teacher for the 
pains he had taken with them. But they never had a 
word of praise for the Sunday-school teacher. Because 
children brought up this way were not Christians, Sol- 
omon had not told the truth ! The man who was so re- 
joiced that he had not influenced his child — if that son 
had never become a Christian, he would have blamed 
Solomon. Education and example, they say, have noth- 
ing to do with a person being a drunkard. Some are 
born with the thirst. Said a man to me, whose son 
was intemperate : ''I always took my toddy when I 
felt like it ; but always told my children not to drink to 
excess." A doctor who, although a member of the 
church, was in the habit of getting on sprees, awoke 
one morning and saw his two boys tumbling about on 
the floor. The older one said: '* Johnny, let's fall 
again, like pa does." Yet, I suppose if these boys 
were to turn out drunkards, or infidels, the father 
would say, "Solomon did not tell the truth." O that 
we appreciated the value of a child, so that how to 
teach him should always be upon our minds ; so that 
we may talk as simply and earnestly as Whitefield did 
about the lost soul that day when the plumes upon the 
head-dress of the Duchess quivered, and Chesterfield 
cried out, "Good God, he is gone T' 

Third. The most encouraging feature in the reli- 
gious world, the most hopeful sign of the age in which 
we live, is the amount of Bible truth that is being 
planted in the young heart. Upon the hearts of thou- 



328 SUNDAY-SCHOOL ADDRESS. 

sands of children indelible impressions are being made, 
that will carry them up to the throne. This Book has 
been the source of every reformation. It has not only 
given the Reformers light, but the power to walk in 
the light. IMurray says : ' ' For six months I have 
consulted but two books in preparing my sermons — the 
New Testament, and Webster. The New Testament has 
furnished me with thoughts and inspiration ; Webster 
has helped me to express myself clearly and forcibly." 
President Edwards says that, after reading the Bible, 
* ' there came into my soul, and was diffused through 
it, a new sense of the Divine Being." Who can tell 
how many Reformers shall spring from the ranks of 
the Church, now in the Sunday-school ? For months 
they quietly packed away the blasts in those great 
rocks at Hell Gate. There was no visible result. But 
at last the hand of a little girl touched the battery, and 
the work was done. In the Sunday-school teaching, 
the powerful blasts of God's truth are being stored 
away fift}^-two days in a year. They shall shiver the 
strongholds of sin. **How far yon little candle throws 
its beams ! So shines a good deed in a naughty world." 
Look at Daniel's visions and John. The image shall 
be broken, and the beasts destroyed. 

But we shall never know what the Bible has done 
for the children, until we stand among the redeemed. 
If, at the last day, when those gates that are now ajar 
are thrown wide open, there is only one thing we can 
say, may it be with reference to our children, and the 
children we have taught : ' ' Those Thou hast given 
me I have kept, and none of them is lost." 



ESSAY ON LYING. 329 



SOME THINGS ABOUT LYING. 

The Lord hates a lying tongue and a false witness that speaketh 
lies fProv. vi. 17, 19). 

He that speaketh lies shall not escape (Prov. xix. 5). 

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man the truth with his 
neighbor (Eph. iv. 25). 

Destitute of the truth (I. Tim. vi. 5). 

All liars shall have their part in the lake which hurneth with fire 
and brimstone (Rev. xxi. 8). 

Some idea of the value of truth may be learned 
from such scriptures as these : 

He that speaketh the truth in his heart (Ps. xv. 2). 

Thou desirest truth in the inward parts (Ps. li. 6). 

Buy the truth, and sell it not (Prov. xxiii. 23). 

The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (I. Tim. iii. 15). 

Charity rejoiceth in the truth (I. Cor. xiii. 6). 

If you have listened to these verses which I have 
quoted, and will give me your close attention for a few 
minutes, I am sure that the importance of this subject, 
and the wisdom of speaking upon it, will appear clear 
as we proceed. 

There are some persons who have never been 
tempted to gamble, to steal, or to drink ; but none 
have reached the age of ten, who have not been 
tempted to tell a falsehood. There are some tempta- 
tions that come especially to the young — temptations 
that do not trouble the old at all. But the old, as well 
as the young, are seduced from the path of truth. 

Falsehood is more nearly related to the devil than 
anything in this world. Says Christ of the devil : 



330 ESSAY ON LYING. 

** There is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, 
he speaketh of his own : for he is a Har, and the father 
of it" (John viii. 44) "Why hath Satan filled thy 
heart to lie unto the Holy Spirit " (Acts v. 3). So, on 
the other hand, truth brings us near to God. In seek- 
ing it, we please Him ; in obeying it, we become like 
Him. 

The Persians, thousands of years ago, though igno- 
rant of many things we know, had found out the 
importance of truth. Hence, they taught their chil- 
dren three things: ''To ride, to draw the bow, and to 
speak tJie ti'ittJi.'' 

Your child may graduate in the best school in the 
w^orld ; but his education is sadly defective, if he has 
not learned to speak the truth. Better speak incor- 
rectly than falsely. By small departures from the 
truth, one may not only form the habit of telling lies, 
but will find pleasure in that which is false. There 
were some of this kind in David's time: "They de- 
light in lies " (Ps. Ixii. 4). What is worse than all, 
this may be done without our being conscious of it. 
As has been said, "So much of his heart was eaten 
away, that there was not heart enough left to know 
that the rest was gone." On the other hand, by strict 
fidelity to truth in little things, we may soon be able to 
say, with Paul : "I can do nothing against the truth, 
but for the truth." 

CARELESS LYING. 

There are many who are careless in listening, and 
careless in reporting what they hear. They are not 
malicious, only careless ; and yet, by this carelessness, 
do an untold amount of mischief. No one can be too 



ESSAY ON LYING. 33 I 

careful in listening to anything that they intend to 
repeat. It is dangerous to do anything carelessly ; 
dangerous to handle sharp tools or firearms carelessly ; 
but words are more dangerous than they. 

LYING ABOUT PROPERTY. 

There are two ways in which this is done. Some 
wish to be considered rich, and for this purpose tell 
falsehoods. But before the tax assessor, these same 
persons tell falsehoods in the other direction. There 
are persons who are truthful in ordinary affairs ; who 
would not tell a falsehood in any social affair ; who 
can be relied on in business matters ; who would punish 
their children severely for lying ; who yet, year after 
year, will make a false statement to the assessor about 
their property, and then swear to it. And these same 
persons tell us that they believe that Book which says : 
"All liars shall have their part in the burning lake." 
Can it be said of these that they have on that part of 
the armor called the ''girdle of truth"? Think you 
that this is a sin that God will wink at ? 

OFFICIAL LYING. 

Before a man who is elected can enter on the duties 
of his office, he must take an oath to enforce the law 
faithfully. How many there are who do not even try to 
keep this oath ! How many men are elected with the 
understanding that certain laws will not be enforced ! 
They take the oath, with the intention not to keep it. 
Does not every officer owe it to God, himself, and the 
people who elected him, to sacredly keep his oath? 
God, who desires truth in the inward parts, will not 
hold such guiltless. 



332 ESSAY ON LYING. 

POLITICAL LYING. 

This has become so common, that many do not 
think it wrong. Political speakers and party papers 
are perfectly reckless in what they say about the oppo- 
site party. Can }-ou form any idea of the way an elec- 
tion will go by what a strictly party paper says? Let 
the best man in the country run for any important 
office, and he will be lied about, and accused of almost 
every crime. Corruption should be exposed ; no guilty 
man should escape ; but no man should be lied about. 

There are partisans in the religious as well as in the 
political world, who can not be trusted to make a state- 
ment of the belief of any church but their own. How 
often have I heard it said that we, as a church, beheve 
certain things, that we do not believe any more than we 
do the infallibility of the Pope. And I have heard it 
said that we denied things that we believe with all our 
hearts. 

THE WAY CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT TO LIE. 

Many parents and teachers make promises to chil- 
dren that they never keep. I read once the life of a 
man who kept all his engagem.ents faithfully — who 
iiever failed to speak the truth. He hated falsehood as 
he did the devil. He appeared to be truth incarnate. 
I wondered at this, until I learned one day how strict his 
father was in keeping promises. His father, when he 
was eighty years old, promised that his son should see 
a certain stone wall pulled down ; but, forgetting his 
promise, one day when the boy was away he employed 
some men to pull it down. After it was all taken 
away, the father remembered his promise. He had 



ESSAY ON LYING. 333 

the men rebuild the wall, so that the boy should see it 
taken down. No wonder a boy with such a father be- 
came the embodiment of truth. We can not be too 
careful in speaking and acting the truth before children. 
Their eyes are good ; their hearing is sharp ; their per- 
ceptions are quick. 

But time would fail to tell of those who borrow 
money and promise to pay to-morrow, when they know 
they can not ; of those in business and social circles who 
make promises that are like ropes of sand ; of those 
who take a pledge not to drink strong drink, and break 
it whenever it suits them ; of those who tell wonderful 
stories about themselves — what they have seen and 
where they have been — because they can entertain a 
crowd by so doing ; of that giddy whirl of fashionable 
society which tends to make people untruthful in little 
things. 

CONCLUSION. 

There Is only one safe way ; that is, always, at all 
times, no matter what the circumstances are, to tell the 
truth. There never was a time — there never will come 
a time — when the telling of a falsehood could do good, 
or be justifiable. Some who have saved their lives by 
a lie, have told us afterwards that they paid too high a 
price. Lying has never done any good ; it has always 
done harm. It always pleases the devil ; it always dis- 
pleases God. It destroys the foundation on which all 
true character is built. 

When I see a person trying to get out of trouble by 
a falsehood, I think of those words: "There was a 
certain foolish man that built his house upon the sand." 
Does it seem to you that the easiest way out of a diffi- 



334 ESSAY ON LYING. 

culty is by an untruth? Remember, *' there is a way 
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are 
the ways of death." Every small departure from the 
truth is but a step into that *' flowery way that leads to 
the bivad gate and tJie great fire.' ^ 

Says George Macdonald : *'It is a big thing to 
say, I am honest." So it is a '' big thing " to be able 
to say, ** I am truthful." May speaking the truth and 
being true become in each one of us a holy passion. 
May we never cease this strife until truth shall be 
incarnate in these mortal bodies. 



INDEX. 



335 



INDEX. 



ADAMS, Mrs. Sarah, a writer of hymns, 

21. 

Adolphus, Gustavus, King of Sweden, 
his character, 245-46 ; his farewell to 
his people, 247-48 ; his battles, 249-54 ; 
his last battle and his death, 253-54 ; 
his superior merit, 255, 

Albion, 111., 47, 51, 52. 

Alexander VI., Pope, opposed to print- 
ing, 120; his character, 157. 

Alfred the Great, his life and character, 
107-8. 

Alva, his character, 208-9 5 ^^^ inhuman- 
ity, 211. 

Anabaptist, disputes with Calvin, 178, 

Angelo, Michael, his character, 130. 

Anglo-Saxons, their character, 106. 

Archbishop of Mentz, opposed to print- 
ing, 120. 

Arminianism, five points of, 207. 

Augsburg Confession, 168, 242. 

Augustine, the missionary, 105-6. 

BACON, Lord, 273. 

Barebones, Praise-God, 286. 

Barry, Dr., his tribute to George Flower, 
16, 17. 

Bartholomew, St., massacre of, 230-31. 

Bede, the Venerable, 106. 

Beggars, The, 205. 

Beggars of the Sea, 206, 219. 

Benton, A. R., his estimate of Geo. E. 
Flower as a student, 36. 

Bible, value of, 125. 

Black Death in England, 108. 

Blake, Robert, 287-88, 

Bohemia, wars beginning in, 244. 

Books, cost of before the art of printing, 
124. 

Buchanan, Col. J. S., Mrs. J. A., and 
Miss Olive, 60. 

Bunyan, John, his birth and parentage, 
304; sent to school, 304; becomes 
wicked, 305; enters the army, 305; 
marries, 305 ; strives to reform, 306-7 ; 
is converted and unites with the Bap- 
tist Church, 308; becomes a preacher, 
309-10; cast into prison, 310; his em- 
ployments there, 311 ; his works, 312 ; 
his last years, 312, 13 ; his death, 313. 

CALVIN, John, his birth, 174; what 
Pius IV., Erasmus, and Luther said of 
him, 174-75; his childhood, 174-75; 
studies theology and law, 175 ; his 
study of the Bible, 175 ; becomes a 
wanderer, 176 ; goes to Nerac, 176 ; 
settles at Geneva, 177; his work in 



Geneva, 178-80; his Institutes, 180; his 
theology, 181-82 ; his dealing with Ser- 
vetus, 183-84 ; his death, 184-85 ; his 
character, 185-87; his influence over 
English refugees, 257-58. 

Calvinism, its harsh features, 181-82; its 
moral power, 182-83 ; five points of, 207. 

Carmi, 111., 50, 51. 

Century XV., its growth, 127. 

Century XVI., fruitful in great men, 173. 

Charles V., at the Diet of Worms, 161 ; 
calls a Diet at Augsburg, 168 ; his abdi- 

• cation, 196. 

Charles VIII., of France, enters Flor- 
ence, 139. 

Charles I A. of France, 229; consents to 
the massacre of the Huguenots, 230-31 ; 
his wretched death, 231. 

Charles, Archbishop of Rheims, 229. 

Chicago Hist. Soc. print Geo. Flower's 
book, 15, 16. 

Children, what the Bible has done for, 
315-58. 

Church, possessions of in England, no. 

Cincinnati, Geo. E. Flower's ministry in, 

^ 59. 60, 77, 78. , 

Clarksburg, Ind., 49, 51. 

Clayton, Ind., 59. 

Cobbett, Wm., 17. 

Colbert, French statesman, 235. 

Coligny, Gaspard de, 230; his death, 231, 

Columbus, Christopher, 147. 

Conde, Prince, 229. 

Constantinople taken by Mohammed II., 
128. 

Conway, M. D., on Edward Fordham 
Flower, 21. 

Coster, Laurens, 122. 

Council, Austin, 36, 37. 

Council of Blood, account of, 209, 

Creeds, when mischievous, 168-69. 

Crenshaw, J. W., his tribute to Geo. E, 
Flower, 73, 74. 

Cromwell, Oliver, various estimates of 
his character, 269-70 ; his birth and 
childhood, 270-71; his marriage, 271 ; 
enters college, 273; his religious ideas, 
274-75 ; elected to Parliament, 276, 278 ; 
what Hampden said of him, 279; his 
bravery at Marston Moor, 280; his let- 
ter to Col. Walton, 281-82 ; crushes a 
rebellion in Wales, 282 ; his prompt 
work in Ireland, 282; his victory at 
Dunbar, 283; breaks up the Rump 
Parliament, 286; the crown refused, 
287; his foreign policy, 287; his deal- 
ings with the Pope and the King of 
France, 289 ; attempts to assassinate 



336 



INDEX. 



him, 289 ; dj'ing counsel of his mother, 
289; his death, 289-90 j his character, 
290-93. 
Cromwell, Thomas, 258. 

DARSIE, George, chosen to minister at 
.funeral of Geo. E. Flower, 80; his ac- 
count of funeral services at Paducah, 
Ky., 85, 86. 

Dowling, W. W., 33. 

Dunbar, battle of, 283, 

Dutch Republic, its foundations laid, 
210. 

EDWARD III., 108. 

Eisleben, 145. 

Eliot, John, 273. 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, attempts 

to assassinate her, 211; her estimate of 

the Puritans, 260. 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, visits E. F. 

Flower, 20. 
English Settlement, history of, 16. 
Erasmus, 148; writes against Luther, 

165-66. 
Ethelbert, Saxon King, converted, 106. 
Europe, condition of at the opening of 

the Thirty Years' War, 243-44. 
Evansville, Ind., 52. 

FAIRFIELD, Ind., 51. 

Farel, Wm., forms acquaintance with 

Calvin, 176; persuades him to settle in 

Geneva, 177. 
Faust, John, 123. 

Ferdinand II., Emperor of Germany, 244. 
Fields, J. T., visits E. F. Flower, 20. 
Field-preaching in Holland, 206. 
Florence, most cultivated city in Italy, 

128. 
Flower, Alfred, his early life, 11 ; his 

conversion, 12 ; becomes a minister, 12 ; 

his home and library, 14 ; a hunter, 28 ; 

his account of his son George's last 

illness, 80, 81. 
Flower, Benjamin, a radical, 21 ; his 

daughters, 21. 
Flower, Edward Fordham, his character, 

20-21. 
Flower, Eliza, organist in South Place 

Chapel, 21. 
Flower, Mrs. Elizabeth, as a mother, 

27, 28. 

Flower, George, his visit to the L^'nited 
States, 15 ; his History of English Set- 
tlement, 16; his wealth and benevo- 
lence, 24, 25; his last years, 18; his 
death, iS. 

Flower, George Edward, his birth, 11 ; 
his heritage, 24 ; his religious home, 25, 
26; his fondness for books, 25 ; delicate 
constitution, 28; industrious, 28; fond 
of sports, 28 ; of sensitive conscience, 

28, 29 ; his childhood pure, 29 ; care in 
his education, 29; his conversion, 30, 
31; timidity, 30; begins to speak in 
public, 31 ; goes to college, 33 ; his 
homesickness, 33 ; his college life, 33- 



44 ; expects but a brief life, but has no 
fear of death, 38, 39 ; ready to abandon 
all thought of preaching, 40; his first 
sermon, 41-44 ; his poverty, 47, 48 ; 
preaches at Albion, 47; preaches at 
many places, 49; his success as a 
preacher, 50-51; leaves college, 51; 
continued success in preaching, 51-52; 
locates at Evansville, Ind., 52; meet- 
ings at Vincennes, Nit. Vernon and 
Paducah, 54, 75; settles at Paducah, 
Ky., 54; his interest in debates, 55, 
56; holds a debate, 56; his boldness in 
the faith, 56, 57 ; opposed to Christians 
belonging to secret societies, 57; six 
months' service in Cincinnati, 59; his. 
ill health, and the opinion of his physi- 
cians, 60, 77, 78 ; marries Miss Olive 
Buchanan, 60; their orderlj' and pleas- 
ant home, 61 ; his economy, 61 ; his 
children, 62 ; his lament over the loss 
of his first-born, 62-64; his disposition 
and habits, 64-66 ; his preaching, 66-69 » 
his pastoral work, 6q-;-7o; his home, 70, 
71; work outside his church-sphere, 
71-73; South Kentucky Churches and 
S. S. Association, 73; number of con- 
versions under his ministry, 75; the 
shadow of death over his path, 77, 78; 
his cheerfulness, 79; falls in the pulpit, 
80; spends summer vacation in 1884 in 
Dakota, 80; returns in feebler condi- 
tion, 80, 81 ; his stay in St. Louis, 81 ; 
administers the Lord's Supper for the 
last time, 81 ; his last illness, its suffer- 
ing and its joyfulness, 82-84; funeral 
services at Paducah, 85, 86 ; his char- 
acteristics, 89-97; the symmetry of his 
character, 100. 

Flower, IMrs. Olive, 60, 61. 

Flower, Richard, 15; his wealth, 19; his 
theological views, 19 ; his religiousness, 
19; his hospitality, 19; his sale of the 
New Harmony property, 19 ; his stand 
against slavery in England and United 
States, 19, 

Flower, \Vm., a mart3'r, 21. 

Fordhams, the, 22 ; a company of them 
in Cromwell's army, 22. 

Fox, Johnson, ]\I. P., 21. 

Foxe's Book of IMartyrs, 21, 22. 

Francis, Duke of Guise, 229. 

Franklin, Ind., 52. 

Frederic IV., Elector, trained in Calvin- 
ism, 242. 

Frederic, Elector of Saxony, 156. 



GALILEO, 299. 

Gama, Vasco de, 147. 

Gifford, Mr. Bunyan's pastor, 308. 

Grayville, 111., 50-52. 

Greencastle, Ind., 52. 

Gregory the Great and the Anglo-Saxons, 

105. 
Gunpowder Plot, 271-72. 
Gutenberg and the printing-press, 119- 

126; his labors and trials, 122-24. 



INDEX. 



337 



HAARLEM, siege and surrender of, 
212-14. 

Hampden, John, 278-79. 

Henry of Navarre, 229-30; his leader- 
ship, 232; turns Roman Catholic, 233; 
his services to the cause of freedom, 
253-34 ; his assassination, 234. 

Henry VIII., of England, attacks Luther, 
165 ; his character, 258. 

Hollanders, character of, 188-89; '" favor 
of toleration, 191 ; sufferings of, 205. 

Hopkins, W. W., room-mate of Geo. E. 
Flower, 36, 37. 

Huguenots, the, 224-39 > origin of the 
name, 224; their distinctive character, 
225-26; persecuted, 228-29 ; their moral 
excellence, 236-37 ; their slaughter and 
expulsion from France, 237 ; lessons 
from their history, 236-39. 

Huss, John, account of, 121 ; dying words 
of, 145. 

IMAGE-BREAKERS, 207-8. 
Independents, their rise in England, 265. 
Indulgences, sold by Tetzel, 158. 
Inquisition, 192 ; Spanish, 194-95. 
Ironsides, the, 280-81. 
Italy, advanced in learning, 128. 

JAMES I., of England, his character, 

263-64. 
Jefferson, Thomas, friend of Geo. Flower, 

17- 
Jerome of Prague, fate of, 121. 
Joan of Arc, 122. 
Julius II. and Michael Angelo, 130. 

KELSHALL, an English village, 22. 

Kempis, Thomas k, 148. 

Knox, John, and the Puritans, 257-67; 
his birth and history, 260-63 ! ^ galley- 
slave, 261 ; his unwillingness to preach, 
261; his influence in Scotland, 261; his 
conflict with the queen, 261-62; his 
death, 263. 

Knyghton, his commendation of Wyc- 
liffe, 117. 

LAFAYETTE, friend of George Flower, 

Laud, Archbishop, 277. 

Lebanon, Ind., 49. 

Leipsic, battle of; 250-51. 

Leyden, siege of, 217 ; heroism of be- 
sieged, 218-19; relief sent to, 219. 

Lord's Supper, celebrated in a cave by 
Calvin, 176; should be observed week- 
ly, 182. 

Louis XIII., of France, 234. 

Louis XIV., of France, his reign, 235- 
36. 

Luntleys, the, 13. 

Luntley, Miss Lillie, a teacher, 29. 

Luther, Martin, 144-171 ; his birth, 145 ; 
his childhood, 149 ; his mother, 149 ; 
lessons from his childhood and youth, 
151; at the university, 154; becomes a 
monk, 155 ; discovers a Bible, 154 ; a 



professor in Wittenberg University, 
156; sent to Rome, 156; his ninety-five 
theses, 158 ; attends the Diet of Worms, 
159-62; composes hymns, 159-60; his 
prayers, 161 ; his magnanimity, 163 ; in 
the Castle of the Wartberg, 164 ; trans- 
lates the Bible into German, 164;. his 
numerous writings and great labors, 
16^ ; burns the Pope's Bull, 165 ; at- 
tacked by Henry VIII., of England, 
165 ; settles disputes among the Re- 
formers, 166; his troubles with Ana- 
baptists and Swiss Reformers, 166 ; his 
marriage, 167 ; his family, 167 ; his love 
of children, 168; hymn for his chil- 
dren, 168; his character and influence, 
169-70; his death, 170. 

Lutherans and Calvinists, hatred be- 
tween, 242. 

Lutzen, battle of, 253-54. 

Lying, essay on, 329-34. 

MAGDEBURG, siege of, 249; its cap- 
ture, 250. 

Magellan, his achievements, 147-48. 

Margaret of Navarre, a friend to Calvin, 
176. 

Margaret, sister of Philip II., of Spain, 
204. 

Marshall's Mill, 51. 

Marston Moor, battle of, 280-81. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, 262-63. 

Maurice, son of Orange, 220-21. 

Mazarin, Cardinal, 235. 

Mechanicsburg, 49-50. 

Medici, Cosmo de, his work and charac- 
ter, 133. 

Medici, Lorenzo de, 135; his treatment 
of Savonarola, 136; his death, 137-38; 
what he said of his sons, 157. 

Medici, Piero de, 138-39. 

Medicis, Alexander de, visits Calvin's 
birthplace, 172. 

Medicis, Catherine, 230. 

Melancthon and Augsburg Confession, 
168. 

Mendicant Friars, 110. 

Middle Ages, recovery from their dark- 
ness, 146. 

Milroy, Ind., 49. 

Milton, John, his birth, 295 ; his child- 
hood, 295; enters Cambridge Univer- 
sity, 295; his youthful purity, 296; his 
studious habits, 296 ; contemplates writ- 
ing a great poem, 297-98; his travels, 
298; returns home, 299; marries Miss 
Powell, 299; becomes Cromwell's For- 
eign Secretary, 300; his literary labors, 
301 ; his character, 302. 

Mount Carmel, 111., 50. 

Mount Vernon, Ind., 53. 

NANTES, Edict of, 233; revocation of 
edict, 236. 

New Harmony, Ind., the Rapp Settle- 
ment, sale of, 20. 

New Winchester, Ind., 49. 

Noyon, Calvin's birthplace, 172. 



338 



INDEX. 



OAKLAND, Ind., 49. 

O'Connor, Madame, 17. 

Oldcastle, John, account of, 120-21. 

Opinions, not to be made tests of fellow- 
ship, 179 ; strifes about, 207. 

Orange, Daniel, his ancestry, 13. 

Orange, Daniel and Elizabeth, united 
with Christian Church in Cincinnati, 
13; founders of Church of Christ at 
Albion, 111., 12. _ 

Orange, Miss Elizabeth, married to A. 
Flower, 12. 

Orange, Mrs. Elizabeth, her character, 
13-14- 

Owen, Robert, purchases New Harmony, 
20. 

Oxford University, founded by Alfred, 
108; number of its students in four- 
teenth century, 108. 

PADUCAH, Ky., 53 ; becomes the home 

of George E. Flower, 54. 
Palissy, Bernard, 226-28. 
Paradise Lost, 301. 
Parliament, Rump, 285. 
Parliament, Little, 286. 
Pentecost, Mrs. Emma, her kindness to 

her nephew, 32. 
Pharisees, sketch of, 265-66. 
Philip XL, of Spain, succeeds his father, 

igj ; his character, 198. 
Plainfield, Ind., 49. 
Plymouth Pilgrims, 222. 
Popes, bad ones, 132. 
Powell, Miss Mary, wife of John Milton, 

300. 
Priestley, Dr., 14. 
Prynne, William, 277. 
Puritanism, its origin and character, 257- 

60; Scotch phase of, 263; its various 

phases, 265-67. 
Puritans, their love for the Bible, 272 ; 

how some of them suffered, 277. 

RALEIGH, Walter, 191-92; his death, 

T.^73- ^ 

Rapp, George, 19. 

Raynolds, Dr., before James I., 264. 

Reuchlin, 148. 

Richelieu, Cardinal, his character, 234- 

35; warns against Cromwell, 287. 
Rome, Church of, her former character, 

152-53 ; becomes corrupt, 154,156-57,193. 
Rome, visited by Luther, 156. 
Rouse, a member of Parliament, 286. 

SAINT PETER'S, why built, 158. 

Sandon, Hertfordshire, 22. 

Savonarola, 127-34 ; his early life, 131 ; 
renounces the world, 132; preaches in 
his native city, 132; goes to Florence, 
132; his rise to power, 133-34 ; his bold- 



ness and incorruptibility, 136 ; his deal-' 

ing with Lorenzo de Medici, 136-38 ; 

his statesmanship, 139-40; his work as 

preacher and reformer, 140-41 ; his fall 

and martyrdom, 141-42. 
Servetus, Michael, 176; his character, 

183. 
Slavery, attempt to establish in Illinois, 

17- 
Swiss Reformers and Luther, 166. 

TETZEL and Indulgences, 158. 
Thirfield, an English village, 22. 
Thirty Years' War, 240-250; its charac- 
ter and its results, 240-43. 
Tilly, character of, 245. 
Torquemada, 194. 

UNION CHURCH, Ind., 49. 
Utter, David, his account of^George E. 
Flower's first sermon, 41-43. 

VAUDOIS, massacre of, 288; Milton's 

Sonnet on, 288. 
Vincennes, Ind., 53. 
Vinci, Leonardo da, his attainment.s, 129- 

30- 

WALDEN, his testimony concerning 
Wycliffe, 117. 

Wallenstein, character of, 245 ; assumes 
command of the army, 252-53. 

" What is Left ? " 62-64. _ 

William of Orange, our indebtedness to, 
191; his birth and ancestry, 200; a fa- 
vorite of Charles V., 200; educated at 
court, 200; how he obtained the title 
of " Silent," 201 ; how he became op- 
posed to Philip II., 201; his incorrupt- 
ibility, 201 ; several attempts to assas- 
sinate him, 202 ; his eloquence, 202 ; his 
noble character, 202-3 '■> becomes a 
Protestant, 209 ; goes to Germany, 209 ; 
takes up the defense of his people, 209- 
10; proposes to Alva an exchange of 
prisoners, 211 ; his power over his sol- 
diers, 211 ; lessons from his life, 214-15 ; 
relieves Leyden, 219; assassination of, 
220 ; his character and influence, 221-23. 

Williams, Roger, 222. 

Wittenberg, insurrection in, 166; Uni- 
versity of, founded, 156. 

Wycliffe, John, his courage, 109; force 
of opposition to him, 111-13; his devo- 
tion to the study of the Bible, 113-15 ; 
translates the Scriptures, 116; his in- 
dustry, 116; his blameless life, 116-17; 
his death, n8. 

XIMENES, Cardinal, 194. 

ZIONSVILLE, Ind., 49. 



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